


Pure Gold Does Not Rust

by theliteraltrash



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Family Secrets, First Kiss, Full Moon, Guilt, Murder, Musician Buffy, Nightmares, Relationship Discussions, Secrets, Trauma, Violence, Werewolf Marty, i'll change the warnings/rating if i need to, this is based on derek and paige in teen wolf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-19 01:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15499047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theliteraltrash/pseuds/theliteraltrash
Summary: Buffy was the best musician in the entire orchestra. When the MVP of the basketball team gives her a challenge in the hallway, she doesn't realize the wild ride she's in for. Especially once she falls for him.





	1. The First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the episode Visionary (season 3 episode 8) of Teen Wolf. I'm changing the events so it's NOT a tragedy that ends in death, but this is what inspired it. (Special thanks to cyrushack on tumblr, love you buddy!!)

Buffy took a deep breath, trying to ignore the loud sounds of the ball being dribbled in the hallway. She moved the bow across the strings, careful to stay on rhythm, using the metronome as a guide. The ball was following the rhythm and she let herself get distracted, following it instead. One bounce broke the rhythm and her concentration. She couldn’t be the best cello player in the orchestra if she let obnoxious jocks distract her. She placed her bow on the stand that held her book and got up, resting the cello against her chair.

She walked out of the music room and crossed her arms over her chest as she saw the group of boys. “I’m pretty sure basketball practice is in the gymnasium, not the hallway,” she said.

A boy she recognized as Marty turned to her, the basketball in his hands. “Are we bothering you?” he asked. Something in his expression didn’t read as serious.

She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. “Yeah, so do you mind going somewhere else?”

He thought for a second and then took a step toward her. “If you can take the ball from me, we’ll go.”

“Fine, shouldn’t be too hard if you meatheads can do it,” she replied dryly. Her palms started to sweat, though. She remembers seeing him on the court when Cyrus had tried and failed to be “boyly” and dragged her to the game with him. Marty wasn’t just good, he was the best. It seemed impossible how good he was. She took a deep breath and pushed down her nerves as she took a step toward him, relaxing to have an easier time.

He started dribbling again, and when Buffy attempted to grab the ball he was fast to get out of the way. He dribbled lower and she tried to hit the ball, he darted to the left and she followed but he quickly went to the right. She internally scolded herself for allowing him to fake her out, but then the ball was bouncing back and forth between his hands and under his knee. 

She stood up straight and pushed him, grabbing the ball. “I win,” she smirked down at him. 

Marty smiled up at her, he landed on his ass and wasn’t attempting to get up yet. “You play dirty,” he leaned back and tilted his head. “I like it.”

Buffy suppressed a genuine smile, biting the insides of her cheeks. She knew better than to dignify him with a response. He lifted his hand, obviously asking her to help him up. She wanted to take it, just so she’d be able to touch him, but she had the suspicion he’d just pull her down to his level. So, she turned and walked back into the music room.

She was thankful that the sound of the basketball being dribbled didn’t resurface while she was playing. She was able to actually focus on perfecting the piece. She ran through the song twice without making a mistake by the time the door opened. She chose to ignore the tall and lean figure in her peripheral. She got half way through the song before she realized he wasn’t planning on leaving.

“Why are you staring?” she asked, not looking at him.

“I’m not staring,” this caught her attention. She looked at him. “I’m listening.”

She hated herself for smiling at that. “Why?”

He shrugged. “It’s pretty.”

She rolled her eyes and positioned her bow, wanting to flee this conversation. She took a deep breath and began playing again. When he took a few steps closer to her, no longer leaning against the wall, the bow hit the wrong string. She cursed under her breath and paused for a moment.

“I wanted to apologize for earlier,” he broke the silence and her concentration.

She looked at him again, squinting. “Sure you did,” she was apprehensive. He had to have some ulterior motive for this.

He nodded. “I changed my mind on apologizing when I realized what it must do to the ego of someone like you,” there was a hint of mischief in his eyes that caused her heart to skip a beat.

“Wow, how is it being the pot that calls the kettle black?” she placed her bow on the stand, the same place she had it earlier.

“I never got your name,” he said. “So I guess I could call you kettle.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s not going to get you very far.”

She couldn’t believe she was actually having a conversation with Marty. She also couldn’t believe she was enjoying it. Part of her wanted to just tell him her name and ask for his number and hope he didn’t laugh in her face. 

“What is it gonna take for you to tell me your name?” he asked.

She looked down at the cello between her knees and then looked at him. “I’ll tell you my name if you can play any instrument in this room.”

He looked nervous by this challenge. “Any?” he asked.

She nodded. “Any.”

He looked around and then walked to the back wall. There were extra instruments lying on the metal shelves. He took about 30 seconds to examine the instruments in front of him. He grabbed something small and hid it as he walked back over to his previous position. 

He had a smile on his face as he slowly revealed the triangle in his hands. She wanted to stand up and grab it and throw it but that would be going against her word. She did say any instrument, the triangle is an instrument. He tapped the metal stick against the triangle and bit his lip.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Buffy,” she picked her bow up again and averted her gaze. 

“I’m-”

“I know who you are,” she interrupted.

She could practically feel the beams of his happiness at that admission. “You do?” he asked. He sounded… giddy. She nodded and looked at him. He looked as happy as he sounded. She gave him a small smile.


	2. Somebody's Watching Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marty has some strange tendencies.

During lunch the next day her eyes met with his. He sat two tables down with his basketball friends. He smiled and waved at her, so she did the same before she sat down. When she lifted her eyes from her tray she saw Cyrus and Andi gaping at her. She raised her eyebrows, trying to pretend like what just happened wasn’t a big deal. “What?” she asked.

“Did Marty the basketball guy just wave at you?” Andi asked.

Cyrus spoke immediately after her, not letting Buffy get a word in. “Why aren’t you freaking out? I mean when TJ first acknowledged my existence I screamed about it for six hours.”

“This is like, a massive deal Buffy. When did you meet him?” Andi did practically the same thing Cyrus did.

“Woah, calm down. I wasn’t gonna talk about it because I thought he’d ignore me, but I guess that plan went out the window,” Buffy gestured with her hands as she spoke. “I met him yesterday. I pushed him and then we talked about nothing for a minute. He watched me play cello.”

Cyrus was looking at something over her shoulder as she spoke. He had his brows furrowed as he took a bite of his apple. “You pushed him?” Andi asked, not noticing whatever Cyrus was looking at.

Buffy nodded and shrugged. She glanced down at her tray and tapped her finger on the table. “He was being obnoxious so I put him in his place. On the ground.”

She bit back a smile and she looked at Andi again. Andi was now looking at whatever Cyrus was looking at, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped. “What’s going on?” Jonah asked as he plopped down beside Buffy. The junior turned his gaze to whatever caught the sophomores eyes. He raised an eyebrow and then looked at Buffy. “Someone’s staring at you,” he said.

“What?” Buffy quickly turned, and saw Marty staring at her. She couldn’t tell what the expression on his face meant. She narrowed her eyes and frowned. She raised her middle finger, which caused him to let out a chuckle she didn’t hear. He turned and brought his attention to one of the guys at the table. She turned to her friends as she felt her face burn.

Jonah didn’t look as completely thrown as Andi and Cyrus did. He wasn’t nearly as dramatic as them and Buffy was thankful. “Isn’t that the guy that’s like… really good at sports? Coach made the frisbee team and the basketball team run track together and he’s never exhausted afterwards. Marty, right? That’s his name?”

Buffy nodded. “Yeah.”

“Are we still going to The Spoon tonight?” Andi asked.

“I’ll give you one hint for the theme of today’s installment of tater theater,” Cyrus replied. He tilted his head slightly down and leaned forward. His eyebrows were lifted and his eyes were darting between Buffy and Jonah. “Teenage werewolf.”

“Teen Wolf?” Jonah asked. “Y’know, the 80s movie with Michael J. Fox?”

“Nope,” Cyrus smiled.

Buffy frowned as she thought. “Please don’t tell me it’s Twilight. You’ve always had a thing for Jacob.”

Cyrus shook his head. “Andi?”

Andi looked hesitant. “Uh… They kinda already took my guesses.”

Cyrus sighed. “You guys are fucking awful at this.”

“What genre is it?” Buffy asked.

“You’ll just have to wait to find out what movie it is,” Cyrus stated. “I watched it with Iris last night, Amber picked it and told her she had to watch it.”

Jonah perked up at that. “Ginger Snaps?”

Cyrus looked impressed. “We have a winner. I’ll pay for your food tonight.”

Jonah smiled. “Dosh!”

Buffy rolled her eyes fondly at the slang. When they all first met Jonah they thought maybe it was some _cool kid_ slang that came with being older. Over the course of their friendship they learned that Jonah wasn’t as popular as Andi thought. Sure he was a bit of a social butterfly, but he wasn’t actually popular. He never got invited to parties and spent a lot of his time focusing on the frisbee team, which was nothing compared to basketball in terms of the placement on the social ladder.

The drama in their friend group got a lot better once Andi and Jonah both decided that they just weren’t ready for relationships. Well, that is until Andi started dating one of the boys in her art class. Walker was really sweet and was a nice addition when he hung out with them. Jonah was working on his mental health before he went back onto the dating scene, and it was actually going really well. He was happier not having the stress of dating.

“So tater theater at The Spoon at six?” Andi asked.

Cyrus and Jonah nodded. Buffy bit her lip. “I have band practice again. Can we move it to seven?”

“Of course! We would never do it without you,” Andi smiled.

Buffy smiled and took a deep breath. “Thanks.”

The rest of the school day went by quickly. She got graded papers back from her teacher. She thrived on the feeling she got each time she saw an A written in red ink. If she was being completely honest it was practically a power high. She was at the top of her academics, taking honors and AP classes and passing while also maintaining a social life.

The power high stayed with her during band practice. The instructor praised her while giving tips to the other students. She had a feeling that the recital this month would be amazing, but Buffy needed it to be perfect. Her mother was going to be in the audience this time. It had been months since Buffy had seen her mother, and she wanted to impress her.

Band practice ended at six, and Buffy decided to stay a little later. She always stayed later. She heard the basketball players running around, shouting. She waited a few minutes for them to either go somewhere else in the school or leave since their practice ended the same time as band practice. She turned the metronome on and took a moment to listen to it. She sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes. She brought the bow to the strings and opened her eyes. She played, focusing as intently as she could.

She played for half an hour, running through half the setlist for the recital. As she put her cello on its stand, she heard the door open. She turned and furrowed her brows as she saw Marty leaning against the door, holding it open. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Leaving from basketball practice,” he stated with a slight shrug.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. “Practice ended half an hour ago. Did you get distracted staring at yourself in the mirror?”

Marty smirked. “Yeah I got lost looking in my own eyes.”

Buffy nodded as she grabbed her bag. “Wow, so you actually are that vain? I thought it was just a show of bravado to try and get all the girls swooning over you.”

“It usually works, but I don’t see you swooning,” he let her walk past him and followed her down the hall.

“That’s because when I see you I just wanna punch you in the dick,” she replied, looking forward.

He was beside her now. “You wound me.”

“Why were you staring at me during lunch?” she asked.

She glanced at him, and their eyes met. “You’re distracting. How can I look at anything else?” his expression melted to a genuine smile.

Buffy felt her face burn and she tore her eyes from him, opening her mouth to stop herself from smiling. “I’m sure you say that to all the girls you stalk.”

“Yeah, totally. It really gets them hot and bothered,” he sounded amused. “Can I get your number before I head out to stalk Denise?”

Buffy stopped in her tracks, they were standing outside the building. She licked her lip and looked at him. “Why would I give you my number?” she asked.

Marty shrugged. “So I can send you dirty pictures.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. Of course. “Not gonna happen.”

“I’m kidding! I just wanna talk to you more. I like talking to you,” there was a seriousness in his voice and expression that wasn’t there before.

Buffy thought for a second. “You’ve only talked to me twice. What if I’m some freak that eats boys, starting with their kidneys?” deflection was easiest. She didn’t have to wait for rejection and for him to say this is all an elaborate prank.

He pursed his lips and tilted his head. “Then I guess you should know my kidneys are in peak health.”

Buffy bit the insides of her cheeks. “How about you give me your number, instead?” she asked.

He took a pen out of his pocket. Who the hell put pens in pockets? He clicked the button and grabbed her hand. She expected him to write it in small numbers on her palm but then the pen touched her wrist. He wrote ten numbers on her forearm and then smiled at her. “Be sure that the message says ‘cellos are stupid’.”

Buffy gaped at him. “You want me to lie?”

He licked his lip. “Fine. Make your first message,” he paused, thinking for a second. “Make it a song recommendation. Something with a cello in it.”

She nodded. “I can do that.”

He put the pen back in his pocket and started walking backwards. “Go have fun. You don’t wanna miss tater theater.”

“Yeah. I should get going,” she smiled. Then her face fell as realization hit her. “How do you-” he already turned and was walking home. She frowned and looked at the number on her arm. What the hell was she getting herself into? Why didn't she want to stop?


	3. The Ultimate Fuck You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy makes a decision about the number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is from the quote "Suicide is like... the ultimate fuck you" from Ginger Snaps. i literally only made that the chapter title bc of the tater theater thing

When Buffy walked into The Spoon she tried to compose herself, to not look freaked out. She sat in the empty space next to Cyrus and placed her backpack on the floor. Cyrus immediately grabbed her arm and examined it. “Is this Marty’s number?” he asked.

Jonah raised his eyebrows and took a sip of his milkshake. Buffy frowned as she took her arm back from Cyrus. “Yeah, but I’m not sure if I should text him or not.”

Surprisingly, Walker was the one to speak next. “Why?” he asked. He was always the sweet and rational yet sensitive guy. Sure he had a sense of humor, like Marty, but he was different. He had an aura of mystery but it wasn’t like Marty. 

Buffy realized that Marty’s mystery might actually be malicious. Maybe it had something to do with the mysterious deaths in town. Shadyside had been getting weirder lately. She bit her lip as she looked at her arm. “He’s kind of… weird?”

“What’s going on, Buffy?” Andi asked, grabbing her hand. She gently rubbed it with her thumb.

Buffy took a deep breath. “Y’know how he was staring at me during lunch today?” Andi, Cyrus, and Jonah nodded. Walker raised his eyebrows and leaned back in the booth. “I think he somehow heard us talking? After he gave me his number he mentioned tater theater.”

“That’s creepy. How the hell could he have heard that?” Cyrus immediately said.

Buffy was suddenly ashamed of what she said next. “I kind of still wanna text him? Just to get to know him better and see if he actually is a creepy stalker. I mean there’s no way he could have heard about that unless he’s seen us here before or if he heard us talking about it today.”

For some reason she looked at Jonah, probably seeking out his constant optimism despite his anxiety. He had his eyes narrowed, his brows furrowed, and a frown on his face. He shook his head and the expression was wiped away. “Excuse my French but, why the fuck would you think that’s a good idea?”

Buffy laughed and let go of Andi’s hand. She shrugged. “I don’t know. Testing the waters, maybe? He’s the only person who can come close to out-sassing me. Although he hasn’t managed it yet.”

“If you do make that awful decision, please keep me updated. I thrive off of drama like this,” Cyrus placed his hand on her shoulder, a smile on his face.

Andi sighed. “Don’t encourage her.”

Amber walked over to the table, placing their order of baby taters in the middle of the table. “Don’t encourage what?” she asked, looking intrigued.

“I’ll explain later, when you’re not working,” Cyrus replied.

Amber nodded. “Okie dokie, well I’m gonna bring Buffy her milkshake and then I’m gonna get back to work.”

“Wait so you’re not gonna try to get us to tell you immediately so you can get out of working?” Andi asked, a shocked expression on her face.

Amber smiled and tilted her head. “Yeah I’m trying this new thing called patience.”

Cyrus put his hand over his heart. “Fucking superb you funky little lesbian,” he nodded, a smile on his face.

Amber laughed and turned. She shook her head as she went back to work, walking back to the kitchen. Buffy looked at Cyrus with raised eyebrows. “You ready for tater theater?” she asked.

“Of fucking course I am. The question is, are you guys?” he grabbed two baby taters and raised them to eye level.

“Let’s get this started,” Jonah rubbed his hands together.

Cyrus started his exaggerated explanation of the plot of Ginger Snaps, which made Buffy want to watch it. He used high pitch voices for the girls, one being higher than the other. When he introduced the male characters he had different goofy deep voices for them. When a character died he would eat the tater. When the tale of the sisters ended in tragedy, the other four teenagers had sad expressions on their faces. 

“Why did you choose such a depressing movie?” Walker asked as he ate one of the unused taters.

Cyrus shrugged. “It’s a good movie.”

Andi took a sip of her milkshake and then turned to Buffy. “What if Marty is a werewolf?”

Buffy laughed. “Then I feel sorry for the brother that’s gonna have to kill him.”

Jonah checked his phone after it dinged. “Shit, I gotta go.”

Andi and Walker stood, getting out of his way. They all said their goodbyes and Jonah left. “Guess I really do have to cover his portion of the check,” Cyrus sighed. “He got two milkshake refills.”

They each paid for their portions of the order, Cyrus covering both his and Jonah’s, and then Andi and Walker left. Cyrus grabbed Buffy’s arm as she moved to leave. She turned and looked at him. “Please be careful with the Marty thing. I was serious when I said I want updates. Send me screenshots if he says anything weird. I’ll try to keep an eye on him and I can ask TJ about him.”

Buffy smiled. “Thanks Cyrus.”

Cyrus smiled and let go of her. “You should head home.”

Buffy took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. I’ll text you when I get home and I’ll let you know what I decide. I’m gonna think it over during my walk home.”

Cyrus nodded and gave her shoulder a pat before walking over to the counter, presumably to wait for Amber. He had gotten close to her since she started dating Iris. Iris was one of Cyrus’ closest friends outside of the good hair crew, so it made sense that Cyrus would be friends with her girlfriend. Jonah hung out with them sometimes, too. Amber was a lot easier to be around when she started going to therapy during her freshman year. She still had some of her old habits but she was genuinely trying to be better. 

As Buffy walked home she did what she told Cyrus she’d do. She thought about Marty and the phone number on her arm. She knew that TJ could tell her more about Marty since he was actually in the guys friend group, but she wasn’t entirely fond of TJ. She adjusted her bag and cracked her neck. As she opened the front door, she took her phone out of her pocket. She locked the front door behind her as she pulled up her text messages with Cyrus. 

 

**> > Just got home. I’m gonna text Marty.**

**< < Remember. Screenshots.**

**> > ofc**

 

When she made it into her bedroom, she put her bag down and practically threw herself onto her bed. She kicked her shoes off and took a deep breath. She took a few moments to stare at her arm before she tapped on the option to send a new message. She typed the number into the recipient bar. She typed ‘ _ hey! It’s Buffy. _ ’ before erasing the message and typing a new one.

 

**> > Song rec: Bach- Prelude, Cello, Suite n. 1**

 

She bit her lip as she waited for the reply. She didn’t know why she cared so much about this. She added his number to her contacts and then held her breath as she watched the bubble that indicated he was typing. 

 

**< < bach? u rlly are a music nerd**

**> > “Music nerd”??? You really are a douchey jock**

**< < dufbsvfbcuisnd i didnt say it was a bad thing**

 

There was something about the way he typed that made her smile. She took a screenshot and sent it to Cyrus with the caption ‘ _ going well so far _ ’. He replied with five thumbs up emojis. She turned onto her side and got in a comfortable position as she replied to Marty.

They talked for a few hours, but it felt like minutes. By eleven she noticed the time and she didn’t want to go to sleep. She knew she had to, though. Tomorrow was Friday, she could stay up late texting him then. She couldn’t tonight since they both had school. She sent him a goodnight text and waited for him to reply. She turned her phone off when he sent her one back. She got out of bed and changed into her pyjamas before heading into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and then scrubbed the ink off of her arm.

By the time she got back to her room, her arm was tinged pink. She turned the light off and layed in bed. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep but she just kept thinking about Marty. 

It was stupid. 

He was stupid. 

God, she was stupid. 

She turned, thinking maybe if she got in a more comfortable position she would have an easier time falling asleep. She frowned and opened her eyes. She furrowed her brows as she looked through her window. The curtain was open so she could see the stars and the moon. It would be full in a week. She wondered if she would still be talking to Marty by then.

She couldn’t help the smile on her face as she remembered all the things she learned about him that night. He had a tendency to reference memes and he liked satire. Athleticism ran in his family, but his grandfather had antique music memorabilia and instruments in a vault in California. 

She had asked him how he knew about tater theater and he said that TJ had mentioned it when he asked him about her. After he said that, she sent a screenshot to Cyrus. Cyrus asked TJ for confirmation, and then sent a screenshot of what TJ said. TJ had said that Marty had asked what she was doing after band practice, and he said “tater theater at The Spoon with Cyrus”. She felt a lot safer talking to Marty after that.

Thinking about Marty asking about her didn’t help her get to sleep. It just made her face burn and her heart race. She took a deep breath and sat up. She rubbed her forehead and tried to shut her brain off. For once she needed to shut her brain off. She had to fight back every urge to grab her phone and text Marty again. 

She stared out the window, a frown on her face. She saw two people talking across the street. She checked her phone for the time. 11:20. She looked out the window again and realized they were arguing. She tilted her head and wished she could hear them. What could they be arguing about so late? Why were they outside?

She saw the reflection of the moonlight on the knife before she could register it. One of the men stabbed the other and her eyes widened. She froze in the spot on her bed, feeling like time had stopped. The knife was pulled out of the man and then he was reaching up. If Buffy didn’t know any better she’d say he slashed the other man’s throat with claws. The man who stabbed him fell to the ground and Buffy gasped. Due to the streetlight she could see the blood pooling under the man.

She grabbed her phone and stood up, walking toward her window. The man who was stabbed was gone, but there was a dead body on the street. She dialed 911 and frantically explained what happened as best as she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything is not what it seems y'all ALSO? cyrus and amber are iconic gay/lesbian solidarity


	4. Why Didn't You Scream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odd circumstances cause the official report of the murder to contrast with the actual events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this kinda delves into Buffy's trauma and there's a nightmare sequence

“Are you sure there was another man here?” the officer asked.

Buffy nodded. She would never forget what happened that night. She was standing on her front porch, her father's arm around her shoulder. “They looked like they were arguing,” she was watching the body bag on the gurney get loaded into the ambulance. She was sure she wouldn’t be sleeping well for a while. “The dead guy stabbed the other guy and then he did something- I don’t know what- and the guy just was dead.”

The officer nodded, his face blank. “Is there a chance you could have still been half asleep when you saw this happen?”

Buffy frowned. “I haven’t slept yet. I was getting ready for bed when it happened. Do you not believe me?”

“One of the medics said this looks like an animal attack-”

“It wasn’t. That was done by another man,” Buffy insisted.

Her father sucked in a sharp breath and pulled her closer to him. “I think you’ve done enough questioning. She needs to get to sleep, school’s in a couple hours.”

The officer nodded and walked away. Buffy rubbed her forehead and turned to her father. “I don’t think I’m gonna be able to sleep,” she said.

“I’ll stay up with you,” he have her a reassuring smile.

Buffy shook her head. “You have work tomorrow. You need to sleep. I can just read ahead in my textbooks and load up on caffeine.”

He sighed but agreed. They went inside, leaving the officers to deal with everything themselves. Her father went back to bed and she decided she should at least try to sleep. Everytime she closed her eyes she saw the man laying on the street, blood pooled under him. Before the police arrived she had went outside. She didn’t get too close to the body but she just wanted to see what happened. His neck was covered in blood but it was still clear that there were four slashes.

She didn’t sleep.

When she went to school, she just wanted to go back home and continue staring at the wall in her bedroom. She purposefully avoided her friends before first period. She didn’t feel like talking. She overheard people talking about what she witnessed. The local news covered it, she saw them at the entrance to her neighborhood when she was on her way to school. It was only a few hours after the majority of the police left the scene.

When she sat in first period she heard people whispering about it. This was the only class she didn’t have with any of her friends, so they couldn’t distract her from this. When the teacher walked in, she told Buffy that if at any point she needed to leave she could. Buffy didn’t take her up on the offer despite how much she wanted to.

She pretended she was okay during her classes. Her friends didn’t ask her about what happened until lunch. They probably knew she wouldn’t want to talk about it when she should be doing work. Work was a distraction, she didn’t have to think about the fact that she saw a man’s throat get ripped out by what was obviously a person with claws. She did math equations and answered questions about the periodic table. She wrote an essay about the article the teacher handed out.

When lunch rolled around she sat at the table without going through the line. She pulled out her phone and looked for a news report on the murder. When she clicked on the most recent article she wanted to scream. Cyrus sat next to her and Andi sat across from her. “You not eating?” Andi asked, passing her a to go pack of Pringles. Cyrus slid her a brownie, placing it beside the chips.

“It was ruled an animal attack,” she said, looking at Andi. 

Andi looked confused. “But you said there was another guy.”

Buffy nodded. “I guess they don’t give a shit what the only witness saw.”

Cyrus placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Buffy.”

Buffy sighed and put her phone in her pocket. She furrowed her brow as she saw TJ and Marty walking together. They passed by their normal table as they talked. Whatever they were talking about seemed serious. They stopped on their path, just holding their trays as they talked. TJ rolled his eyes and started walking again. She heard Marty say “well then fuck you,” as he followed.

TJ sat beside Andi, across from Cyrus, and Marty sat on Andi’s other side. “Hey, Buffy,” TJ said.

“What are you guys doing over here?” Andi asked, pretending to be happy by the turn of events. She just looked confused and slightly uncomfortable.

Marty shrugged. “I was gonna ask Buffy why she didn’t tell me she witnessed a murder after telling me goodnight. TJ just came by to be a dick.”

TJ ignored him and started eating. Jonah hesitantly sat next to Buffy, across from Marty. Marty gave Buffy a pointed look. Buffy looked at the food that Andi and Cyrus gave her. For an easy distraction she opened the Pringles. “I was trying to go to sleep and then I saw someone die. I didn’t text anyone last night because by the time I got done talking to the police it was almost four in the morning.”

Marty nodded. “Are you staying after school today?” he changed the subject.

Buffy shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, I want to make sure I have the set memorized perfectly, but I don’t want to be alone. Some irrational part of my brain is worried that someone is going to attack me.”

“Do you wanna have a sleepover tonight?” Andi asked. “We can eat candy and binge watch Queer Eye.”

Buffy smiled. “Yeah, sure. I mean, I’ll have to head home and get my stuff before I go to your place. Fair warning I might have to take a nap since I’m running on zero sleep.”

Cyrus made an excited noise. “Can I join? I know I can’t spend the night but I wanna get in on distracting Buffy from existential dread and trauma.”

Andi chuckled and nodded. “Of course.”

“Another show that’s a good distraction from your own trauma is It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” Marty informed.

Buffy snorted. “You’re not gonna let up on that until I agree to watch it, are you?” she asked, smiling for the first time that day.

Marty smiled right back at her. “I’m going to convert you so that you understand all my jokes.”

Buffy turned to Andi. “Do you wanna watch it with me?”

Andi shrugged. “Sure.”

“It was taken off of Netflix, I can let you guys borrow my Hulu,” Jonah stated.

Buffy blinked and furrowed her brows, still smiling. “You watch Always Sunny?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he shrugged, as if it was obvious. Marty gave him a high five and said ‘hell yeah dude’.

Buffy realized that people were watching them. Probably taking in the fact that Marty and TJ were sitting with people that weren’t popular jocks. They might also have been staring at her because she’s the girl that witnessed the most recent murder to be labelled an animal attack. She chose to ignore them for the rest of lunch, focusing on her friends and how well Marty fit in with them. 

School went by fairly quickly considering she was only half focusing the entire day, just going through the motions. She was sitting in her last class of the day, she had finished her work early so she was just waiting for the bell. She had her head resting on her hand and she was staring at the board. She felt her eyes droop and she blinked. She took a deep breath as she noticed that her classmates had all stopped what they were doing. 

She sat up straight, her brows furrowed. She looked around the room, stretching in her seat as she did so. Slowly the other students turned to look at her. She felt her heart race in her chest. She looked to the front of the room. Mr. Smith was writing on the board, but it didn’t make sense. The words were just jumbled letters. 

_ HYW DDNIT OYU MSRAEC _

“Mr. Smith?” She said, breaking the silence of the room.

Mr. Smith put down the dry erase marker, but the cap fell on the floor. Buffy was taking shallow, quick breaths. He slowly turned. She felt her heart stop. It wasn’t Mr. Smith standing in the front of the classroom. It was the man from last night. Blood was spurting from the slashes on his throat. He opened his mouth to speak-

Buffy jolted awake at the sound of the bell. She let out a horrified gasp, her eyes widened. She looked around to see the concerned gazes of her classmates. She took a deep breath and looked down at her desk. The other students filed out of the room, but Cyrus walked over to her from his seat a couple rows away. 

“You okay?” he asked. “You kinda fell asleep.”

She blinked and nodded. She put her things in her bag and stood. “I had a nightmare. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. Everytime I close my eyes I see the dead guy.”

Cyrus took a deep breath and gave her a hug. “Maybe you should talk to one of my dads or one of my moms,” he said when he pulled away. 

Buffy sighed as she put her bag on her shoulder. “You’re suggesting I get a therapist?”

“Therapy could help you work through the trauma of literally seeing someone get murdered,” Cyrus stated.

Buffy gave Mr. Smith her work as they walked out of the room. “I’m not seeing a shrink. I just need time, I’ll get over it.”

“Buffy-”

Buffy put her hand in front of Cyrus as she stopped walking. He stopped as his chest hit her hand. She turned and looked at him. “I’m fine. It happened last night, of course I’m still freaked out. I’ll get over it in a few days.”

He didn’t look convinced but he huffed, defeated. “Fine, but you know where to go if you change your mind.”

He pushed her hand down and walked past her. Buffy took a deep breath and let out a loud groan. Before she could start walking Marty was in front of her. He raised his eyebrows as he looked at her. “You good?” he asked.

Buffy nodded. “Yeah.”

He pointed towards the doors with his thumb. “Can I walk you home?” he asked.

Buffy scratched the back of her head and smiled. “Yeah, sure. I don’t think Andi will want you to come with me when I walk to her place, though.”

He smiled at her and shrugged. “Her loss, I guess.”

They walked and talked. She laughed when he either said something really stupid or just unexpected. He’d chuckle at something she’d say and then they’d be silent, just smiling. He stopped when they got to the entrance of her neighborhood. He breathed in through his nose and furrowed his brow.

Buffy frowned as she watched him. “What’s up?” she asked.

He snapped out of it and looked at her. “I smell the blood,” he informed.

Buffy narrowed her eyes and nodded. “Oh. Okay, well, I think I can take it from here. I’ll text you when I get to Andi’s house.”

He nodded. “Have fun.”

She smiled and watched as he left. That was the weirdest thing she had ever seen Marty do. She walked home alone. She kept staring at the blood stained on the street. She looked at the road that she just walked down and took a moment. How could Marty have smelled it? She couldn’t even smell it. She didn’t even know what blood smelled like.

She went inside and put her backpack in her bedroom. She packed a bag and decided to just ignore the whole smelling blood from a block away thing. Marty was cool, he was just a little weird. All of her friends were weird, she shouldn’t be making such a big deal out of this. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. 

She sat on her bed and pulled out one of her notebooks. She wrote a small note for her dad, telling him she was spending the night with Andi. She used a magnet to stick it to the fridge and then she headed out. She hoped she’d be able to sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have big plans please tell me what you think
> 
> also the scrambled writing in the dream is based on the "you cant read in dreams" thing also unscrambled it's the chapter title


	5. All I Have To Do Is Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up from another nightmare, Buffy talks to the Mack girls about guilt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was tempted to name this chapter "nightmare dressed like a daydream" but thats too cheesy. also the dream gets lowkey racy but its Nothing compared to what it could have been, like its not sexual i PROMISE the teen rating is bc like this is nothing compared to some of what is seen in the show Teen Wolf which is targeted at teens SO im not changing the rating

They were in her bed, sitting with their legs tangled together. He pushed her hair back behind her ear, a soft smile on his face. She licked her lips and blushed, feeling her heart race in her chest. She could hear her heartbeat as he leaned closer to her. He pressed his lips against hers and the oxygen left her lungs.

She couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Marty was in her bed, kissing her. She placed a hand on his shoulder, the other carded into his hair. He scooted closer to her, his hands on her sides. She leaned back, wanting to collapse onto her bed. He stopped her though, holding her close. He broke the kiss, moving his mouth to her neck. He dragged blunt teeth over her pulsepoint and her breath caught in her throat. She furrowed her brow as she felt something sharp touch her neck.

He pulled back and touched the spot on her neck that he kissed. “Why didn’t you scream?” he asked.

She narrowed her eyes and froze for a second. “What?” she replied.

“Why didn’t you scream?” his expression was blank and his voice was monotone.

She moved back, her eyes widening. “Marty?” her voice broke. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

He tilted his head and gave her a pitying look. His hand moved, his fingertips gently caressing the skin on her neck. She felt the sensation of something sharp on her throat again. She didn’t dare breathe. A quick movement of his hand and she felt white hot pain in her throat. She screamed.

She thrashed as she sat up, she wheezed once the scream died. Andi was there, holding her and whispering that she was safe. Buffy looked around as she took deep breaths. She was in Andi’s room, in her bed. She was safe. She brought her hand to her throat, shakily taking in that she wasn’t dying. She was perfectly fine-physically at least.

Bex opened the door turning the light on. “What’s going on?” she asked, obviously having just woken up.

“Nightmare,” Buffy whispered, unable to muster up the strength to speak louder.

Luckily, Andi was there. “She had a nightmare, I guess we all got woken up by that scream. She’s just been through a lot.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Bex asked, looking at Buffy.

Buffy rubbed her neck and looked at Andi. She steadied her breathing and then looked at Bex. She shook her head and then froze for a second. She changed her mind and nodded. She opened her mouth and she explained her dream, stuttering when she said that it started with him kissing her. “He just kept saying ‘why didn’t you scream’ and then he grew claws and ripped out my throat.”

Bex furrowed her brow and was silent for a second. “What could he have been talking about?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Buffy replied.

Andi looked at her, tilting her head before she spoke. “Did you scream when you saw that guy get killed?” she asked.

Buffy furrowed her brow. “No.”

“What did you dream about during 8th period?” Andi asked.

Buffy realized Cyrus must have told her about the nightmare she had during her nap at school. “Uh, I was in class and Mr. Smith was writing something on the board but I couldn’t read it. When he turned around he was the dead guy, his throat was slashed and he was still bleeding. He opened his mouth and then I woke up.”

“You can’t read in dreams. The letters look like one of those word scramble puzzle things,” Andi stated. “Do you remember what he wrote?”

Buffy nodded. “I think, yeah.”

Bex grabbed one of Andi’s notebooks and a pink pen. She opened the book to a blank page and handed it to Buffy. Buffy rubbed her forehead and wrote down what was written in her dream to the best of her memory. When she finished she gave it to Andi, who carefully took the pen. She looked at the words for a few seconds and then wrote a few lines under Buffy’s writing. “Why didn’t you scream,” she said when she finished. “It says ‘why didn’t you scream’.”

She looked up at Buffy. “Why is my subconscious asking me why I didn’t scream?” Buffy asked.

“Guilt?” Bex suggested. “You might feel like you didn’t react the way you’re supposed to and you feel guilty about it,” she shrugged.

Buffy didn’t know what to do with that information. Her brain was sending her messages of guilt while she slept. She knew she couldn’t have done anything to stop what happened. She also knew she did what she needed to do-call 911 and explain what happened. She just had no control over whether the man actually got justice. He was murdered but the county said it was an animal, completely ignoring her statement.

“Could I be feeling guilty about what the police labelled it as?” she asked, looking at Bex as if she had all the answers.

Bex sat next to her. “Probably. I mean you did say that he was killed by another guy. You saw him get murdered and the people who could catch him decided they didn’t believe you.”

Andi placed her hand on Buffy’s shoulder. She looked her in the eyes and gave her a soft smile. “It’s not your fault that they ruled it an animal attack. You did everything you could.”

“I know, but I guess my dreams don’t,” Buffy sighed.

They all went back to bed, actually getting restful sleep. Buffy was thankful she didn’t have another nightmare. She wondered if it was due to her addressing the messages in her dreams. She still didn’t fully understand what they actually meant, but at least she had an idea. If Cyrus were there she’d laugh in his face and say she was right. She didn’t need therapy. She could work on her issues by herself.

When she woke up for real, she had breakfast with Bex and Andi and then headed home. Andi walked with her, just to make sure she was okay. As they walked they made plans to go to The Spoon for lunch with Cyrus. Things were looking like they would have a normal Saturday afternoon. She stopped Andi when they turned onto her street.

Andi looked at her with raised brows, and Buffy pointed at the reason she stopped. Marty and TJ were on the street in front of her house. Marty was kneeling, pointing at the blood stain and saying something. TJ was standing by him, looking at the stain. He nodded and then replied when Marty looked at him.

“What are they doing?” Andi asked, her voice quiet. It was as if she feared they could hear her.

Buffy felt her breath hitch as she noticed TJ turned his head to look at them. He hit Marty’s shoulder and then Marty looked at them. “We’re gonna find out,” she put on a brave face and grabbed Andi’s hand.

Marty stood as Buffy dragged Andi to them. “Hey, Buffy,” he greeted, forcing a smile on his face.

“Shut up,” Buffy replied. She furrowed her brows and took a second to gather her thoughts. “I have so many questions. First being ‘what the fuck are you doing outside my house?’ Second being ‘how do you even know where my house is?’ You have a lot of explaining to do. Both of you.”

Marty opened his mouth to reply, but TJ spoke over him. “We believe you,” he said. “We can’t explain why we know, but there’s two people’s blood here,” he pointed at the stain.

Marty nodded. “This is from the guy that was stabbed,” he pointed at a small spot that had a few drops. “That’s from the dead guy,” he then pointed at the bigger stain.

“How did you even get here?” Andi asked.

“I followed the scent,” Marty said as if it was obvious.

Buffy wanted to scream in frustration. This was just making her more confused. “Marty what the hell is going on?” she shouted.

He looked hurt by her raising her voice. He looked like he was going to respond but TJ rolled his eyes and again spoke over him. “We said we can’t tell you. It’s better for everyone if you just stay out of it.”

“Fuck you! I watched a man get his throat ripped out by a man with claws and you expect me to just stay out of it?” Buffy knew she was just lashing out, letting all her anger out on them. She also knew they deserved it. They were being fucking weird and smelling blood and coming to her house when she wasn’t home.

Marty took a step closer to her, she attempted to push him but he caught her hand. “Please, Buffy. I’m trying to keep you safe.”

Buffy yanked her hand out of his gentle grip. “Keep me safe? How do I know you’re not dangerous?”

He gave her a sad look and took a step back. “I would never hurt you,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean you’re not a creep,” Andi replied, her words laced with venom. “C’mon Buffy, let’s go inside.”

Buffy let Andi guide her inside. She didn’t tear her eyes off of Marty the entire walk to her front door. He just stood there, watching her with a sorrowful expression. TJ looked exhausted with the whole situation and she heard him insult Marty. Marty’s expression shifted to annoyed and he looked at TJ. Buffy turned and followed Andi inside. She made sure to lock the door behind her.


	6. Mama We're All Gonna Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After hanging out with Cyrus and Andi, Buffy comes home to a special surprise. Then Marty comes over.

When Buffy got home from The Spoon she screamed in excitement, running toward her mother. Her mother hugged her for a long time, but it wasn’t long enough. Buffy buried her face in her mother’s neck and she felt the tears stream down her face. Her mother cradled her head and kissed her. It took Buffy a second to realize she was sobbing in her mother’s arms. 

“Sorry, I’m crying,” she whispered, not moving away.

She knew her mother was smiling, she could hear it in her voice. “It’s okay sweetie,” she assured her, moving to kiss Buffy’s temple.

Buffy took a deep breath and finally pulled away. She wiped the tears off her face and tried to compose herself. “I’m just so happy to see you,” she smiled.

“I’ve missed you so much,” her mom smiled back. Her expression shifted to sympathetic. Not pitying, never pitying. “Your father told me what happened the other night. I was able to leave earlier than I expected so I came as soon as I could.”

Buffy had to wipe more tears off her face and take another deep breath. Her mom grabbed her hand and guided her to the couch and they sat down. She didn’t let go of her hand when they sat. “How do you do it?” her mom gave her a questioning look. “Deal with death?”

Her mom inhaled a sharp breath. “Due to my job, I think I’ve become desensitized to it. So many people die or get seriously hurt doing what I do, and I see it more than the normal person. I compartmentalize it and usually I get by okay, but I have nightmares.”

She rubbed her thumb on her mothers knuckles. “The police didn’t believe me when I said it was murder,” she stated. She decided not to tell her about Marty and TJ. She still didn’t know what to think of what happened. When she and Andi explained it to Cyrus he was so sure that Marty and TJ were doing good. He had so much faith in TJ it made Buffy realize how close they were. It was weird, to think about. She still wasn’t used to him being close to Amber.

“I’m sorry honey. Sometimes they just don’t listen to people like us,” her mom looked sad. Buffy knew it was because she wished that she could have protected Buffy from ever experiencing this.

Buffy was silent for a moment. “Mom, do you think that monsters are real?”

“Depends on what you mean by monsters,” was the response.

Buffy didn’t want to sound crazy, but she realized there was something that no one was focusing on. The murder weapon. “The murderer had claws, mom,” she decided to say. She looked her mother in the eyes. “He had claws.”

Her mother took a second to register the information. She looked horrified. “Are you sure?” she didn’t sound like she didn’t believe her. She sounded scared.

Buffy nodded. “That’s why it was ruled an animal attack and that’s why they didn’t believe me. I read an article about it while I was with Andi and Cyrus. They said it was a wolf attack and I must have been half asleep. They said that there were two men there and that one got hurt and ran away without calling the police or going to the hospital, leaving the other guy for dead. They said I was confused due to being tired and being traumatized.”

“Buffy what are you saying?” Buffy recognized the expression on her moms face. Her mom didn’t want her to pursue this line of thinking. 

Buffy thought to hell with it. “That man was killed by a monster. The other man wasn’t human.”

Her mom bit her lip and inhaled through her nose. “Can we stop talking about this?” she asked. “Tell me about your friends.”

Buffy wanted to say no. She wanted to know what her mother wasn’t telling her. She wanted her mother to tell her that she’s right. But she just huffs and goes along with it. “I became friends with the MVP basketball player. His name is Marty and he’s friends with TJ.”

Her mother smiled and made an excited sound. “Is he cute?”

Buffy blushed and blinked, smiling. “Yeah,” she remembered the dream she had at Andi’s house. “He is, and he’s funny, but he’s kinda weird. I don’t know how I feel about him.”

“Well that’s totally fine. You’re 15, you can wait to decide how you feel,” she shrugged. “But if you do like him, make sure he treats you like the badass woman that you are.”

“Of course,” Buffy gave her mom’s hand a gentle squeeze. 

They talked for a little while longer, telling stories to each other. By the time there was a knock on the door, Buffy had practically forgotten the start of their conversation. Her mom got up and opened the door. “Hi,” she greeted.

“Mrs. Driscoll, is Buffy here?” Buffy froze when she heard the voice, her eyes wide.

Her mother crossed her arms over her chest. “Who’s asking?”

“I’m Marty, I’m Buffy’s friend,” speak of the devil.

Her mother turned to look at her, a smile on her face. She took a step back and let Marty inside. Buffy stood and scratched behind her ear. “Hi,” she greeted as her mother closed the door.

“I’ll just go talk to your father,” her mother said as she walked out of the room, giving Buffy a thumbs up.

Buffy walked around the couch to get closer to Marty. She leaned against the back of the couch and rubbed her chin. “What do you wanna talk about?” she asked.

“A lot of things, actually,” Marty sighed. “I don’t know how to start,” he whispered, looking at the floor.

Buffy instinctively grabbed his hand. Her common sense told her this was a bad idea, but she didn’t let go. “Maybe start with what you know about what I saw,” this got him to look at her again.

He took a deep breath. “There is a lot of things you don’t know about me,” he began. “I want to tell you, I swear I do. Can you tell me what exactly you saw?”

Buffy let go of his hand and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked him in the eyes. “That man was killed by something that wasn’t human. He looked human but he wasn’t. He had claws and he ripped that man’s throat out and ran away perfectly fine after being stabbed.”

Marty nodded as if he already knew this. “What else did you see?” he asked, this time he grabbed her hand. 

She furrowed her brows. “They were arguing before it happened. I don’t know what about, I couldn’t hear them.”

He nodded again, taking a step closer. “Okay,” he said.

Buffy looked at his face and their eyes met. “Marty what do you know?” she asked.

He looked like he was going to tell her. He certainly wanted to. He closed his eyes and suddenly his lips her on hers. Buffy felt like the world stopped, and then her eyes fell closed. She kissed him back. It was a chaste kiss, nothing compared to the one in her dream. He broke the kiss and pressed their foreheads together. “I’m sorry, Buffy,” he whispered.

She took her hand out of his and gave him a shove, he was unaffected but he took a step back. “Tell me something, please,” she demanded. 

“I will tell you. I promise. Just not here, not now,” he said. “Come to my house tomorrow. I’ll tell you what I know about what you saw and I’ll tell you how I know.”

Buffy nodded. “Okay, just text me your address.”

“You can’t tell anyone. TJ is going to tell Cyrus and he’s going to tell him not to tell anyone. This can’t be common knowledge. People could get hurt or killed,” Marty looked horrified.

“I can’t tell Andi?” Buffy asked. She didn’t know why she asked. This was all insane nonsense. This didn’t make any sense.

Marty shook his head. “No, you can’t tell her. You can’t tell Jonah either.”

Buffy wanted to ask why. She wanted to say something. Anything. But then his lips were on hers again and she was melting into his touch. He broke the kiss before she could kiss back. He started to leave. “Marty wait-”

“I have to go. Be careful,” he said, a soft smile on his face. It didn’t reach his eyes. Then, he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me? finally getting a chance to implement my big plans? it's more likely than you think


	7. The Sun, The Moon, The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three things cannot long be hidden. Buffy learns the truth.

Marty’s house wasn’t at all what Buffy expected. It was in the wooded area on the outskirts of Shadyside, and it was rather large. Buffy stared in wonder as she walked the path to the front door. She didn’t know why Marty’s family needed such a big house. As far as she knew it was just him and his parents. But she knew she didn’t know a lot about Marty. She figured she would discover a lot of things about him while she was here.

She raised her first and knocked on the door. She turned her head to look into the woods that surrounded the house. The family was rather isolated. There wasn’t a lot of things around the house. She could walk a mile and find a cider stand, but there wasn’t a lot around otherwise. She turned her head to look at the other side. She saw a rabbit hopping on the edge of the woods. It looked at her and then turned, hopping back into the woods.

She turned to look forward when she heard the door get unlocked. Marty opened the door and stepped out of the way, letting her inside. The interior was nice, very homy. Marty closed the door and lead her deeper into the house and up the stairs. Buffy could hear people talking on the first floor and children playing in rooms on the second floor. “How many people live here?” she asked.

“Me, my parents, some uncles and aunts and cousins,” Marty answered. 

Buffy nodded as if it made perfect sense to have practically your entire family living in one house. Marty took her into his bedroom, which was the only thing about the house that was what Buffy expected. There were a few band posters and a few posters for TV shows and movies. He had a shelf for sports awards and then another shelf with funko pops and action figures. The only thing that she found odd was a wooden circle with the same design carved into it as the pendant on a necklace she had seen Marty wear.

She carefully picked up the wooden circle. “What is this?” she asked, showing it to him.

He took it from her hand and put it back on his nightstand. “It’s a triskele. Each spiral means something. For some it’s mother-father-child, spirit-mind-body, life-death-rebirth,” his hand absently took the pendant out from under his shirt. His thumb caressed each spiral carefully.

“What does it mean to you?” she asked.

He bit his lip and gestured to his bed. “You may want to sit down,” he looked her in the eyes. So, she sat on the edge of his bed and looked at him. “My family is… different. I know this probably sounds stupid and insane and you might never want to talk to me again after this but I need you to know that my family protects people.”

Buffy furrowed her brows. She squashed down her confusion and decided to just listen. “Okay,” she said. 

He took a deep breath. “Okay so I’m just gonna get this over with,” he sounded sure of himself for the first time in a few days. “The man you saw get murdered was a werewolf hunter, and the person who killed him was a werewolf.”

Buffy blinked. “What?”

“My family is a werewolf pack, but the killer wasn’t from our pack,” he continued. 

“So you’re…”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m a werewolf.”

Buffy wanted to laugh. This was stupid. He must be delusional or just playing a really elaborate prank on her. “And you’re completely serious?” she decided to say.

He nodded again. “You said it yourself, the killer wasn’t human. He had claws and he was perfectly fine after being stabbed.”

Buffy licked her lips and took a deep breath. She was silent, taking in what she had just been told. Surprisingly it did make sense. The man looked human but had claws. He killed a man in a way that was seen as a wolf attack. “You said that you’re one of them too. Is that why you have a really good sense of smell? Did you hear us plan tater theater that one day?”

“Yeah. It’s also why I’m never sick,” he added.

She took another moment to process this. Then she remembered the dream she had. “Do you… have claws too?” she asked.

Marty took a step back and showed her his hand. It looked perfectly normal, nothing strange about it aside from how oddly perfect his cuticles were. He then made a fist and closed his eyes. He brought his hand to his side and quickly let go of his fist, his fingers straightening. Buffy watched as he brought his hand back in the line of sight. His fingernails were replaced with sharp claws. Her breath was stuck in her chest as she watched them retreat, turning into regular nails.

When he opened his eyes, the pretty brown she was used to was replaced with a glowing golden yellow. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. He blinked and his eyes were normal again. “Oh my god,” she whispered.

Marty sat next to her and Buffy didn’t understand why she didn’t move away. She had every reason in the world to be scared of him. He had claws and glowing eyes. “I can smell your emotional turmoil,” he said, sounding amused. Buffy looked at him, a confused look on her face. He looked like he realized how insane he sounded. “Chemosignals,” he replied as if it explained everything. “Emotions are caused by chemicals in your brain and body, and they have scents that my kind can smell.”

Buffy was frozen for a second before she took the information in and nodded. “I guess this all explains why you’re so fucking weird,” she decided to say, a small smile on her face.

He laughed. “I guess so,” he agreed.

She carefully took his hand and examined his nails. Perfectly normal. She looked at his face and tried to take in every detail. Then she remembered something he said yesterday. “Is TJ like you?” she asked.

He nodded. “He’s in a different pack. He was bitten by that alpha, while I was born into my pack,” he informed.

Cyrus had known TJ for a few months, since Buffy started tutoring him. She wasn’t very close to him, but Cyrus was. Cyrus has never mentioned any of the odd Marty behaviors that came from being a werewolf. “When did he get bit?” she decided to ask. 

Marty squinted as he thought. “The summer between this school year and the one before,” he said.

Buffy nodded. So, he changed before she even met him. Maybe he learned to hide it well and Marty didn’t. He was born into this world while TJ was taken into it. TJ was born human and grew up human until that summer. He knew how to conceal it while Marty probably didn’t. His family was like him. 

Her eyes caught on the pendant of his necklace. “What does the triskele mean to you?” she remembered that the conversation started with asking what the triskele meant.

He looked at hit and then gave a soft smile. “Alpha-beta-omega. It’s pack dynamics. I’m a beta and my mom is my alpha.”

“What’s an omega?”

He took a deep breath. “They’re either the runts of the pack or lone wolves. I’ve never met one. They’re said to be dangerous and unruly, but my mom always told me they’re misunderstood.”

Buffy didn’t know what to say to that so she was thankful to feel her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and checked her for the notification. “It’s a text from Cyrus,” she said. She opened the message and read it.

 

**> > TJ just told me something and said you know it bc of Marty**

**> > Can you come over so we can panic abt this together?????**

 

Buffy smiled and then looked at Marty. “Cyrus wants me to come over,” she said, shrugging.

“If you wanna go, then go,” was his reply.

Buffy nodded and typed out a response to Cyrus.

 

**< < Omw**


	8. Learning Is Not Compulsory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy and Cyrus discuss their big discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title is from the phrase "Leaning is not compulsory... neither is survival" by W. Edwards Deming

“While I was waiting for you to show up, I got a text from Jonah,” Cyrus said when Buffy sat next to him on his bed. “He said that he didn’t want to bring it up around you due to your trauma around the situation, but the dead guy? That’s his uncle.”

Buffy raised her eyebrows. “His uncle?”

Cyrus nodded. “And I did a little research too. Jonah’s uncle? He called 911 and claimed he found a dead body in a warehouse on the edge of the county. The body was shot, but died from some sort of poison that turned the victim’s blood black.”

“Oh my god, is that even possible?” Not for the first time that day, Buffy was shocked. “What could have done that?”

“He had aconite poisoning, which comes from a plant most commonly called wolfsbane. Buffy. Wolfsbane. The weirdest part wasn’t even the aconite poisoning,” he paused. “After the victim was killed, he was cut in half. A post mortem hemicorporectomy.”

This was a lot to take in. Jonah’s uncle found a dead body that was cut in half and poisoned with wolfsbane. “What are you getting at, Cyrus?” she knew he had a point. She assumed the reason she couldn’t think of what he was implying was due to the stress of everything she learned that day.

Cyrus looked her in the eyes, completely serious. “I think Jonah’s uncle killed that werewolf and then was killed in retribution,” he said. Buffy didn’t say anything, her heart was hammering in her chest. She blinked and opened her mouth. She quickly closed it and blinked again. Cyrus looked like he understood her shock. “Bare with me, okay. TJ told me that the victim was a hunter. He didn’t tell me that he was Jonah’s uncle, we got that from Jonah himself.”

“Jonah’s uncle was a hunter,” Buffy said. Cyrus gave her a small nod. “And the body he found was a werewolf, except he didn’t find the body, he’s the one who killed him.”

Cyrus nodded again. “Aconite is poisonous to humans but it doesn’t turn the blood black. Maybe the hemicorporectomy is a message to the pack. Maybe wolfsbane is like silver is in the stories, y’know?”

Buffy took a deep breath, unable to believe that this is her life now. “So Jonah’s uncle killed a werewolf and then got killed by another werewolf in an act of revenge?”

“Yes,” Cyrus said.

Buffy rubbed her temple and took a second. “Okay. Why are you so okay with this, Cyrus?”

Cyrus shrugged. “I kind of always hoped werewolves were real. Plus I noticed stuff around town. Shadyside is… strange but everyone pretends there’s nothing weird here.”

“Be honest with me, okay?” Buffy grabbed his hand. She realized she’s been doing a lot of hand holding recently. She guessed it was a way to grasp at reality and her sanity. She needed some way to know everything was actually happening. She needed some way to ground her. He nodded so she continued. “Did you suspect that TJ was a werewolf?”

Cyrus furrowed his brow and bit his lip. “I don’t know, actually. I don’t think I was surprised when I found out, though. I don’t know how to explain how I felt.”

Buffy let go of his hand and leaned back, trying to relax on the bed. Her life was weird. Different. She couldn’t stop the small laugh that came out of her. “Marty kissed me yesterday,” she said.

Cyrus’ eyes went wide, practically bulging out of his skull. “What?” Buffy nodded. “Oh my god you’re dating a hot werewolf! When will I get an opportunity like that?”

Buffy gave him a pointed look. “You think Marty’s hot?” she teased. 

“If a man has claws and fangs he’s automatically hot, Buffy,” he said as if it were common knowledge. In his eyes it probably was.

Buffy raised a brow. “Does that mean you think TJ is hot?” she asked.

Cyrus rolled his eyes and laid on his bed, leaning on his elbow with his head in his hand. He smiled at her and took a second to think of his response. “He’s just a friend. Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I fall for every guy I’m friends with.”

Buffy nodded and smiled back at him. “Does that mean you still have a crush on Jonah?” she asked.

Cyrus shrugged and looked at his blanket. The shrug was awkward, his shoulder nearly hit his ear due to his positioning. “I read somewhere that after four months feelings like that are no longer considered a crush,” he said hesitantly.

Her jaw dropped. Cyrus has had a crush on Jonah since they met when he was in 7th grade. That was four years. “Are you saying you’re in love with him?” she asked. Her voice was quiet, as if Jonah were in the next room. 

Cyrus took a deep breath and rolled onto his back. “I guess,” he sighed.

“The boy you’re in love with is related to werewolf hunters and seemingly doesn’t know,” Buffy said after a few moments of silence. “Marty told me not to tell him about what I know. He also said I can’t tell Andi.”

Cyrus nodded. “TJ told me I can’t talk to anyone about it except you, him, and Marty.”

Buffy grabbed his pillow and wrapped her arms around it. This was a lot to keep from Andi. She wasn’t entirely sure if she could be able to keep it from her. This wasn’t like keeping Cyrus’ sexuality a secret until he was ready to come out. This wasn’t like figuring out her own identity by crushing on Andi. This was a whole other world that she and Cyrus have been thrown into and that Andi is close to. 

Since Andi didn’t know about the monsters that live in Shadyside, Buffy felt that she and Cyrus had to protect her. Well, as much as they could. They know something she doesn’t and her not knowing could cause problems. She furrowed her brow. “Cyrus, I didn’t promise him I wouldn’t tell.”

Cyrus looked at her, his brows raised. “Buffy, why do I have a bad feeling about that?”

Her eyes met his. “What if her not knowing gets her killed?” her voice was quiet again. She didn’t get like this often. 

“What if telling her gets her killed?” he countered. “I know that it sucks not being able to tell her, but TJ said that ever since he got bit his life has been at constant risk. People have tried to kill him. He’s gotten shot and stabbed.”

“That’s because of the hunters. Andi is human,” Buffy sat up.

Cyrus sat up, mirroring her actions. “I trust TJ enough to know there’s a reason they don’t want us telling her.”

“I don’t like keeping this from her. It’s just so big. What if something happens to us now that we know?” he didn’t say anything in response, he just looked down at his blanket. They just sat in silence as they both thought about the meaning of that question. 

She remembered Marty saying that he was trying to keep her safe. He was trying to keep her safe by not telling her about the life he was born into. It must be dangerous knowing what she knows now. He was obviously scared to tell her. He was scared of what she’d think and of what could happen to her.

That train of thought reminded her of her mother’s reaction to her saying that the killer wasn’t human. She wasn’t shocked, she was scared for Buffy. She didn’t want Buffy to figure it out. “My mom knows,” she said without realizing it until the silence was broken. 

“What?” Cyrus asked. “Did you tell her?”

Buffy shook her head. “I was talking to her about what I saw and she didn’t want me to say it. She didn’t want me to find out. She knows, Cyrus. She knows something big and she didn’t want me to know. I don’t think Marty knows she knows.”

“Holy shit.”

Buffy decided she needed to figure out what her mom was hiding. There had to be a reason she knew. Buffy was going to need help figuring out what that reason was. Thankfully, Cyrus always had the tendency to want to investigate things. She just hoped he didn’t want to wear costumes this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow i cant wait to hear what yall think of how cyrus reacted bc homeboy is a mess also sorry i didnt want to like,,, exclude tyrus shippers in this but i Personally prefer jyrus while Yes cyrus and tj's friendship is Important to this fic i just wanted it to be platonic ALSO cyrus was Joking when he implied he could like marty he doesnt like marty like that, like he said he doesnt fall for every guy he's friends with (also im a gay guy so like,,, thats just my onion on this thing. if after this fic is done someone wants like,,, an au of this fic where cyrus is with tj instead of what i have planned, i Might write that au but i might not, it depends on my motivation level when this is finished)


	9. Ex Gratia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they're back at school, Buffy isn't sure if she can keep the secret from Andi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the chapter title is Latin it means either "out of goodness" or "by favor"

Buffy didn’t talk to her mother about what she learned over the weekend. They talked about Buffy’s upcoming recital during the ride to school. She seemed excited to finally see Buffy perform. Buffy had told her about her improvements and about how she wanted to attend Juilliard after high school. She was happy to finally get to share this in person with her mother.

The school day was normal. Buffy almost forgot about all the weirdness happening under everyone's noses. She realized why it was so easy to bury your head in the sand. Marty and TJ looked like perfectly normal teenagers, no one was being maimed in the hallway. Buffy wasn’t having nightmares about not screaming. Cyrus was talking about the reason people kiss under mistletoe on the holidays. Andi got one of her books out of her locker and said “what made you look into this?” 

Cyrus shrugged and looked at Buffy. Buffy realized he was covertly talking about something that had to do with the werewolf situation. “I was doing research and I saw something about mistletoe poisoning and then I fell down a research rabbit hole,” he said, looking at Andi again.

Andi pursed her lips and nodded. “Mistletoe is poisonous?” she asked.

“Oh yeah, like really poisonous,” Cyrus exhaled sharply. “They’re also parasitic and either unisexual or bisexual depending on the species. Something our friend group has in common. I, a unisexual gay, and Buffy and Jonah the bisexuals.”

“So they’re not pan? That’s so exclusionary. Talk about lack of representation,” Andi teased.

Buffy let out a small laugh. “Sorry that you can’t be represented by a poisonous parasitic plant.”

Andi shrugged. “No biggy, maybe next time one gets discovered it’ll be pan.”

The warning bell rang and Buffy closed her locker. “See you guys later,” she said.

She put the lock on her locker as Andi and Cyrus went to their classes. Class was mundane. Everything was as normal as it usually was. During second period math her eyes wandered to TJ a few rows away. He still looked like a normal teenage boy with a tendency to lash out. If Buffy really thought about it she’d assume he was just one of those assholes that vaped in the boys bathroom. 

By the time lunch rolled around Buffy couldn’t stop thinking about how she needed to watch what she said. Andi couldn’t know that she was hiding something. So, she had to act like she wasn’t. She sat at their table, Andi was laughing and Cyrus was smiling as if he didn’t expect that reaction. “It’s not that funny,” he insisted.

Andi nodded and took a deep breath, calming down. “You’re right. It’s not. I just needed that.”

Buffy opened her milk carton and furrowed her brows. “What’s up?” she asked.

Cyrus sighed. “I’m just so funny I make all the girls swoon.”

“A freshman asked him to the formal,” Andi informed. “She was not happy when he said she wasn’t his type.”

“She said ‘what do you mean I’m not your type?’ and I said ‘you’re not a dude’ and then she apologized. I don’t even know her name,” Cyrus added.

Buffy nodded. “Ah, I see. Speaking of types,” her eyes landed on Marty. He was already looking at her. She realized he was listening to them. Buffy tore her eyes off of him and looked at Andi. “Marty came over after my mom got home on Saturday,” this got Andi to raise her eyebrows.

Jonah sat next to Andi as she spoke. “Was he being creepy again?” she asked. Jonah gave Cyrus a questioning look. 

“We talked and then he kissed me,” Buffy said. She couldn’t stop herself from looking at him again. He gave her a smile, it was soft and it made her face burn. She looked at Andi again. “I think we might be dating now?”

Andi blinked, obviously confused by that turn of events. “What?”

Buffy looked at Marty again. He gave her a small nod and then joined in the conversation at his table. She could tell it meant he was interested in a relationship and that he trusted her not to tell Andi the Secret. She looked at Andi again. Andi obviously noticed how Buffy kept looking away from her. Buffy shrugged and took in a deep breath. “The thing outside my house was a joke. TJ put him up to it,” she decided to say. 

She didn’t understand why the lie slipped off her tongue so easily. It shouldn’t be this easy to lie to Andi. Andi believed her though. “God, TJ is such a dick,” she said.

“Hey, he’s not a dick. He’s just… okay he’s a bit of a dick,” Cyrus tried to defend him. He sighed and looked at Buffy. “I don’t know what happened outside of your house but it wasn’t a big deal, right?”

Buffy nodded. “It’s fine. Everything is good,” this was directed at Andi. 

Andi gave her a small smile. “Okay. I just don’t want him to like kidnap you and then murder you or anything.”

“Thank you for being concerned. It means a lot,” that wasn’t a lie. Buffy did appreciate the concern. But, she wanted to change the topic.

Jonah didn’t seem so eager to, though. “What happened outside your house?” he asked.

Buffy shrugged. “They were pretending to know stuff about the murder outside my house. It was just a harmless joke.”

Jonah frowned. “It’s not even a good joke.”

Cyrus nodded. “Hey Andi, has Walker told any good jokes?”

Buffy would forever be thankful for Cyrus. He knew that this conversation was headed towards dangerous waters, especially with Jonah. She didn’t want to think about Jonah’s family. Marty had given her a brief summary of hunters and how they were typically born into the life. 

Andi started talking about her weekend. She went on a date with Walker and then he painted a portrait of her and Bex. The boy was so sweet, Buffy thought she might get cavities. He made Andi really happy, that’s all she could ever ask of him. Andi explained that she was in the process of making him a mosaic out of things he left at her house and never asked to get back. 

Jonah took out a notebook and wrote something down. He passed the notebook to Cyrus and Buffy had to use every ounce of self control she had to not look at it. Cyrus froze, staring at the paper. Buffy met Andi’s eyes and raised her brows. Andi mirrored her expression and then they both looked at Jonah. He was biting his lip as he stared at Cyrus. Andi and Buffy turned to look at Cyrus. Cyrus was looking at Jonah like he couldn’t believe what he read. 

“Yes, I will go to the formal with you,” he finally said.

Buffy felt a grin stretch across her face as she reached over and grabbed Cyrus’ shoulders. She and Andi both let out excited noises as she shook Cyrus. “Oh my god,” Buffy let go of him and she looked at Jonah. 

Jonah’s cheeks were red as he realized the excitement was aimed at him as well. “I’ve been feeling a lot better about myself lately. Therapy has helped a lot. So, I was thinking maybe it could be like… a date. Maybe we could have more?” he sounded unsure, but he didn’t tear his eyes away from Cyrus. 

Buffy looked at Cyrus again. His eyes were wide and he nodded. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. He gave a more exaggerated nod. “Yes,” he finally said. “Yes I would love that.”

Buffy remembered the winter formal. She and Cyrus went to the dance together as friends, while Jonah went stag. Andi of course went with Walker. Now, they all had dates for the spring formal. Well, Buffy assumed she did, considering her new relationship with Marty. The problem was that it was new. They could break up before the dance. Or worse, he could get killed by a hunter. Buffy stomped down those thoughts and decided she would ask him if he would go with her.

The rest of her classes went by rather quickly. During 8th period history, she wished Mr. Smith hadn’t forced her and Cyrus to sit far from each other due to interruptions. She wanted to whisper to him about what he was trying to secretly tell her that morning. Mistletoe was poisonous. What did that have to do with werewolves? 

The final bell rang and she knew she only had a few minutes before she had to go to the band room. While she packed her bag, Cyrus stayed behind. He packed his bag a lot slower than he normally did. He was watching the students file out into the hall. They were the last two students in the room by the time he walked over to her. 

“The reading I did last night,” he began. “Mistletoe is extremely poisonous to dogs. So I assumed it was also poisonous to werewolves,” he was whispering, as they walked out of the room. “Every few years or so there are people that die in Shadyside due to mistletoe poisoning. They go into the hospital, sick, and then they die within 24 hours after vomiting up a black sludge with mistletoe.”

Buffy grimaced at the image. “Why are you telling me this?” she asked. It appeared that Cyrus was walking her to the band room as he talked to her.

He looked around. “If you read anything about someone oozing a black substance, just assume they’re a werewolf being poisoned by something,” he said.

“I’m going to make you ooze a black substance if you don’t shut up and go home,” she replied. He sighed and lifted his hands in defeat. He said ‘fine’ and then turned and joined the crowd of teenagers leaving. Buffy took a deep breath and walked into the band room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jsfhdsnce i know i had the narration say jonah needs to be single but he's been chilling since 8th grade and hes a junior now, thats So Long he should be at least able to manage his anxiety better now also, like i said before i ship jyrus


	10. Louder and Louder Inside The House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Buffy gets home her mom is acting kind of odd. They get news about Buffy's aunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title is from Bird Song by Florence and the Machine

Marty didn’t stay after basketball practice to walk Buffy home. Buffy tried not to be sad about it. He was probably busy, the full moon was tomorrow. She wasn’t completely sure what werewolves did around the full moon, but she was sure it was important. She heard the statistics of the spike in crime and injuries during the full moon. Cyrus had even done a science project on the lunar effect in 8th grade. 

As she put her cello up, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. When she checked it, there was a text from Marty saying he left practice early due to an “emergency”. Buffy sighed and replied, telling him it was fine. It was fine. It wasn’t like she wanted to ask him to the formal or anything. She definitely wasn’t disappointed. Nope, not Buffy Driscoll.

So, she walked home alone. She tried her best to not be on full alert while she walked. Buffy knew that walking alone was dangerous already, but something about today made her more on edge. Maybe it was because it was her first time walking alone since she found out the Secret. Not only was she fully aware of werewolves, she also knew that the lunar cycle actually caused a spike in the risk of an attack.

She realized she was doing an awful job of not thinking about it. Telling herself not to think about it only made her think about it more. She took a deep breath and tried to think about her recital tomorrow. Her mother would finally be able to see her perform. Not only was it showcasing the progress she made throughout the school year, it was also the last recital of the year. It was special. 

And it was happening on the night of the full moon. Marty had already told her he wouldn’t be able to make it. He said that as soon as the moon was up he was a risk to not just her, but everyone in sight. He had good control, but not the best. He didn’t want to risk anything bad happening. Buffy admired that about him. He might not have complete control of the shift yet, but he was able to control who was at risk if anything went bad. 

When Buffy entered her house, it was quiet. She said hi to her mother, who was sitting on the couch and listening to the TV while reading something on her phone, and then went into her bedroom. She layed on her bed and pulled out her laptop, deciding to waste time scrolling through the internet until she had to eat dinner. Just knowing that her mom was in the other room was comfort enough.

She was halfway through a documentary about celtic monsters that Cyrus found on YouTube when her father told her dinner was ready. She paused it and sent Cyrus a text telling him about her progress into the documentary, and then went into the dining room. Cyrus had sent her the documentary after she had told him about the triskele meanings for Marty. Cyrus had told her that triskelions were often used by the celts. Then he fell down a research hole and asked her if she thought the creatures in the documentary were real. Buffy was sure they weren’t, but she knew she could be wrong. She never believed in werewolves until the evidence was staring her in the face. 

She sat at the dinner table as her dad placed a plate in front of her. She smiled and thanked him. Her mom sat at the table, rubbing her forehead. “You okay?” Buffy asked her as she picked up her fork.

Her mother nodded. “Yeah I just have a headache,” she said.

“Do you want me to get you an aspirin?” her father asked.

“No, I’m fine,” was the response. 

They were eating alfredo. It was her father’s favorite meal. Buffy knew that her parents liked to cook together when they could. Her father would let her mother pick the meals for at least a week after she got home. It was practically a tradition by now. So, she didn’t quite understand why they were having her father’s favorite meal. It wasn’t a special occasion, let alone one that had to do with her father. She didn’t dare to question it though. 

“Are you nervous for tomorrow?” her mother asked once they had all gotten comfortable.

Buffy shrugged. “Yeah, I guess,” she replied. She was nervous. Not just for her recital, but for the moon. There were at least two werewolf packs in town, anything could happen.

Her father’s phone rang and he excused himself from the table. Buffy’s mother watched him go, an expression on her face that Buffy couldn’t entirely read. It looked like she was sorry for something. Maybe they had gotten into an argument and her mother was just generally sorry. Buffy thought that maybe she had picked alfredo as a way to make up for it. She continued eating, deciding that it wasn’t her business unless they told her about it. 

When her father walked back into the room he looked nervous. He sat down and her mother gave him a questioning look. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

He scratched his cheek and furrowed his brows. “My sister is in the hospital. She was in a car accident,” he said.

Buffy’s eyes widened. “What? Is she okay?”

He looked unsure. “She’s in surgery right now, her wife told me she would keep us updated.”

The rest of dinner was filled with a somber silence. Her mother was oozing dread. Buffy knew that they were close, her mother would send her letters while she was deployed. The way her mother was reacting was as if she already knew the worst was going to happen. Her father seemed worried but hopeful, in contrast. They hadn’t heard much about his sisters condition, so there was reason to be hopeful.

After dinner, Buffy finished the documentary and told Cyrus she found it interesting but thought it was all bullshit. She distracted herself from worrying about her aunt by video chatting with Andi. She talked to Andi for hours about their plans for the formal and about Andi’s family. Buffy was going to ask Marty tomorrow during lunch, and then she was going to go dress shopping with Andi that Saturday. Talking about Bex, Bowie, Ham, and Celia was a lot easier than talking about Buffy herself and her family issues.

Andi checked the time and groaned. “Buffy it’s your self assigned bedtime,” she said.

Buffy sighed. “I gotta be ready for the recital tomorrow. Sorry that I insist on being punctual, it’s from all the years of having your influence.”

Andi laughed. “Yeah,” she was smiling. “Buffy be honest with me,” she paused for a second. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. See you tomorrow,” Buffy smiled back.

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Buffy brushed her teeth and changed into her pyjamas. By the time she climbed into bed and closed her eyes she wasn’t sure if she could actually sleep. She was filled to the brim with anxiety. There were so many thoughts buzzing through her head. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and curled in on herself.

She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until she was woken up by a bone chilling scream. She sat up and threw her blanket off of her body. She was running out of the room before the scream stopped. She opened her parents bedroom door to find her mother sitting up, her eyes wide while her father was taking his hands off of his ears. 

“Mom are you okay?” she asked.

Her mother nodded. “Yeah, just a really bad nightmare,” her voice sounded oddly normal for having just screamed as loud as she did. Buffy was sure Marty must have heard it from his house despite the distance. “Just go back to bed. I’m sorry I woke you up, sweetie.”

Buffy looked at her father to see what he would say. He looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “She’s supposed to get up in 15 minutes anyway, Pat.”

“Oh, then she should start getting ready for school,” was her mother’s response.

So, Buffy did. She got ready for school as if her mother didn’t wake up screaming bloody murder. She remembers being younger and waking up to her mother screaming after she had first gotten deployed. It had started after she had gotten out of the hospital. Buffy didn’t remember why she was in the hospital, but she knew that was when the nightmares started. She assumed her mother had been injured during battle, nothing too bad. It was probably just a graze from a bullet.

Her dad drove her to school. He was silent, not looking entirely present. When he stopped at a red light Buffy asked what was wrong. “She didn’t make it,” he said quietly. “Your aunt passed away this morning. Her wife called me while you were in the shower,” his voice broke at the admission.

Buffy felt like she had been hit with a bag of bricks. The air left her lungs and her hands went numb. “Oh god,” she said.

The light turned green and he continued driving. Buffy wanted to cry, she felt like she was going to, but the tears didn’t come. It reminded her of how she watched a man get murdered and only gasped. She wondered if maybe she was a sociopath, not reacting properly to death. Then she wanted to hit herself over the head with a bat. Her father just lost his sister and she was thinking about herself.

When he parked the car in the school parking lot she hugged him before getting out of the car. She walked to her locker, standing next to Andi and Cyrus. “Buffy?” Cyrus said, getting her attention. “What’s wrong?”

“My aunt got in a car accident last night,” she said. “Her wife called my dad this morning. She didn’t make it.”

Andi quickly pulled her into a hug and finally the tears came rushing down. “I’m so sorry,” Andi whispered.

Buffy let out a choked sob and felt Cyrus join the hug. The presence of Andi and Cyrus was comforting. She never wanted to let go. She squeezed Andi tighter, taking in all the comfort she could. Then the bell rang. Andi and Cyrus didn’t let go of her. “We’re going to be late,” she whispered.

“We don’t even have to go,” Cyrus replied. “We can ask Jonah if he can take us to The Spoon and you can drown your sorrows in a chocolate shake.”

Buffy shook her head. “No, I have my recital tonight. I have to go to class or they won’t let me perform.”

Cyrus sighed and broke out of the hug. Buffy still didn’t let go of Andi. “We can be late to first period, then,” Andi said.

Buffy nodded. “Okay,” Cyrus’ hand was on her back now. He rubbed a small circle and then let go. “Cyrus you can go,” she said.

“I’m not going until you go,” was all he said.

Buffy gave him a small smile. He wiped a tear off her cheek and matched the expression. She finally let go of Andi and wiped her face. The bell signalling that class was starting rang. “I love you guys,” she said.

“We love you too,” Cyrus said. Andi nodded and rubbed her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I SWEAR theres an important reason for EVERYTHING in this chapter its not just filler where i kill someone for no reason other than drama.


	11. Lunar Incantations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy learns just how dangerous the full moon is.

When lunch rolled around, Buffy was running on autopilot. She knew she wanted to talk to Marty, so she went looking for him. He wasn’t at his usual table and he wasn’t at her usual table. She noticed that Iris was sitting with other seniors, but Amber wasn’t there. Cyrus, who was walking to their usual table with Andi, stopped and said something to Iris. He was probably asking where Amber was. Iris replied and Cyrus nodded before appearing to ask her if she wanted to sit with them.  He had pointed to their table. Iris shook her head and gestured to the people around her. He nodded and then he and Andi started walking again.

Buffy looked around the cafeteria, her eyes scanning over the tables. Marty wasn’t at any of them. Then, her eyes landed on him sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. She took a deep breath and walked over to him. He was looking down at his tray, sitting perfectly still. If Buffy couldn’t see his chest heaving she would have worried he was dead. She sat next to him on the floor, her back sliding down the wall. She huffed when she crossed her legs.

She looked at his face and noticed his eyes were yellow. “Marty,” she whispered. He didn’t look up. “Your eyes,” that got him to close them.

“It’s the full moon. It’s not out yet but everytime I look at you I can feel it’s hold on me,” he whispered. He had a slight lisp that he didn’t have before. As she watched his mouth move she realized his canines were fangs.

She furrowed her brow and frowned. “I just wanted to ask you something, but I can leave if you need me to.”

He shook his head and his hand reached for hers. She pulled it quickly moved out of the way when she saw his claws. “I don’t want you to,” he replied. “But you probably should. Or I should. This isn’t good. I don’t know why I’m getting like this.”

Buffy took a deep breath. “I’m gonna make this quick and then you’re going to go home. You can’t be here like this.”

He nodded, his claws retracting. He was taking deep breaths, no longer seemingly wheezing. “Okay. You’re right.”

Buffy bit her lip at the response. She smiled and really looked at him. “We’re going to the formal together, right?” she finally asked.

He nodded. “Yeah,” he finally chanced a glance at her, his eyes still yellow.

She stood up and walked to her table. When she sat next to Andi, she turned to look at him but he was already gone. She turned back to Cyrus and sighed. “So, are you going to the formal with Marty?” Andi asked, looking at her with raised brows.

Buffy smiled. “Yeah, unless something comes up for either of us.”

“Is he okay though? He kind of rushed out as soon as you got up,” Cyrus looked genuinely concerned.

Buffy took a deep breath, trying to find an explanation. “He said he wasn’t feeling good today. He can’t come to the recital. I think he might be sick,” that got Cyrus to nod.

“I hope he feels better. Doesn’t he have perfect attendance? It’s gotta suck to break that,” Andi replied.

Buffy shrugged. “Where’s Jonah?” she decided to ask, no longer wanting to talk about Marty. She couldn’t tell Andi the truth, but she didn’t like lying to her. So, it was better to just not talk about it.

“In the lunch line,” Cyrus said, pointing at him. Buffy looked in the direction. Ah, he was right. Jonah gave her a wave and she waved back. “Though if there is a person to wonder the whereabouts of, it’s Amber,” this caused her to raise her eyebrows.

Andi frowned, furrowing her brows. “But Iris said she was studying in the library.”

Buffy laughed. “Amber? Studying during lunch?”

“Why would she give up the opportunity to get Chipotle, which is what she and Iris always do during lunch, by the way? They have the senior privilege of leaving campus. Jonah has the same privilege as a junior, but he stays for us. Amber and Iris always go out,” Cyrus informed.

Buffy knew why Marty was being stranger than usual. The full moon. Why was Amber acting so out of character? She wanted to talk to Cyrus about theories, but knew she couldn’t with Andi there. “What do you think is going on?” she asked, hoping his answer was mundane.

Cyrus leaned closer to her and Andi. “I think she lied to Iris about studying for finals. She could be doing something she doesn’t want Iris to know about. Maybe it’s illegal,” he whispered. He seemed genuine in his answer.

“Do you have any specific ideas?” Andi asked, humoring him.

He nodded and glanced around. “Two words. Drug dealing,” Jonah sat next to him and he sat up straight and smiled. “Hey, Jonah,” he greeted.

Andi gave Buffy an amused smile. Buffy smiled back, but she knew it was forced. She appreciated how normal it felt to just be teenagers talking during lunch, but there was a weight in her chest. Andi started talking to Cyrus about his drug dealing theory but Buffy couldn’t bring herself to join them. She knew it would be better to join in the joke so she could try to feel better. She wanted to distract herself from the despair that came from the news she got in the car that morning.

She hadn’t realized that the devastation had changed her facial expression as she picked at her food until Jonah was looking at her. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice quiet.

Buffy nodded and inhaled sharply. “Yeah, I just… bad day.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile and didn’t press for anything. She gave him a tight smile in response. Buffy appreciated that he was just so understanding. He didn’t press her to give information she didn’t want to give. He was sweet and he listened but he didn’t ask for much. Buffy didn’t know much about him and they weren’t close. Her expression fell when she remembered what Cyrus had told her about his uncle.

“Cyrus told me your uncle was the man I saw get murdered. I’m sorry,” she decided to say. “I think you might understand what I’m currently going through, my dad told me my aunt died this morning.”

His breath hitched and he nodded, looking down at his tray. “I wasn’t close to him, but he came to town to see my parents. He went out the night of the murder and didn’t come back to the house. I didn’t find out it was him until I got home from school,” he informed.

Buffy took a deep breath. So he didn’t know about his family being hunters. He wasn’t close to his uncle, he couldn’t know such a secret. She exhaled through her nose and grabbed his hand. “I wasn’t close to my aunt either, but my parents were close to her. The weird thing is that my mom looked sad when my dad got the call that she was in the hospital. She made him his favorite meal before we even found out, it was like she knew he was going to get bad news,” she furrowed her brow. “I thought that maybe they had a fight, but he wasn’t acting like they did. It was only her, it was like she knew.”

Jonah frowned and looked at her. “Maybe she found out ahead of time she was in the hospital?” he suggested.

“Maybe. She could have gotten a text from my aunts wife Lisa, but it wouldn’t make sense for her to have not just called my dad right away,” Buffy replied.

Buffy wasn’t entirely sure what she was thinking. There was no way for her mom to know. “Maybe it was just a coincidence,” Andi shrugged.

“Maybe.”

Cyrus quickly changed the subject to something more lighthearted. They spent the rest of lunch pretending they didn’t have the conversation they did. Jonah was back to his usual cheery mask, and Buffy was trying not to think about anything strange. She didn’t know what exactly she was thinking in the first place. She just knew her mom was acting weird. It was probably nothing, just a coincidence.

The rest of the school day was a blur. TJ was absent from math, he probably took the whole day off due to the full moon. Marty actually went home during lunch. Cyrus didn’t pass her a note saying he had a supernatural theory about someone. He didn’t even try to tell her about any research he did. She assumed it was to give her space because of her aunts death, so she appreciated it even though she missed the enthusiasm he had.

After the final bell rang, Buffy left class and headed into the bathroom. She changed into the clothes she brought for the recital. As she looked in the mirror she made sure her hair looked nice. Then, she headed for the band room. She placed her bag with the others and helped with carrying the instruments to the auditorium.

The recital didn’t start until after the sun went down, but the band had to stay after school to get ready. Buffy laughed as her acquaintances told jokes and talked, and she joined in. She pretended she wasn’t numb. It reminded her of the first day after she witnessed the murder. It was easier this time because she didn’t have the visuals. It didn’t feel completely real not having seen her aunt, though.

By the time Andi and Cyrus came to give her moral support before the performance, Buffy was feeling more normal. She had a genuine smile on her face when Andi assured her she was going to be amazing. They were sitting on the staircase inside the school, Buffy knew she had time to talk to them. They had an hour before she had to be ready, and the stage was set up. Most of the orchestra was in the band room, but Buffy just wanted to be alone with her friends.

“I’m gonna record your moms reactions to the performance,” Cyrus told her.

Buffy gaped. “Oh my god,” she shook her head. “I would love to see her reaction but don’t do that.”

There was a noise, Buffy’s head turned quickly in the direction. “Did you hear that?” Andi whispered. Buffy turned and saw her looking in the same direction. She nodded and Andi’s eyes widened.

Buffy turned just as the noise came out again. It was a growl. Buffy felt her breath catch in her throat. She stood, but Cyrus grabbed her hand. She looked at him, he was looking up at her with his eyes wide. “Buffy, what do you think you’re doing?” he said.

“Investigating,” she said, her brows raised.

Andi grabbed her other hand. “Buffy people that investigate noises in scary movies are the ones who die. I don’t want you to die.”

Buffy sat back down. “It’s probably an animal,” she said, looking Andi in the eyes. She knew it wasn’t. “We should go,” she decided that it was better to just leave.

Andi was looking behind her, in the direction the noise came from. “Amber?”

Buffy quickly turned, seeing Amber standing on the other end of the hall. Her eyes were glowing blue and she had claws and fangs. She also was covered in blood. She didn’t look like she recognized them. She looked like a monster. Buffy stood again, turning back to Andi and Cyrus. “Run,” she said.

Cyrus stood, pulling Andi up. Buffy turned back to look at Amber. Amber let out another growl and started running toward them. Buffy turned, grabbing Andi’s hand. Cyrus had the other, and they were all running. Buffy pushed the door open, and she looked over her shoulder. She let go of Andi’s hand as they ran.

Buffy let Andi and Cyrus out before her. Amber was gaining on them. She hesitated before following them. The moon and the stars were out, but it wasn’t late. Buffy didn’t know much about werewolves but she always imagined the issue with the fool moon came later in the night. Buffy was ahead of Cyrus and Andi and she didn’t like it, so she looked over her shoulder. They weren’t far behind her. She looked forward and immediately stopped.

TJ was in front of them. His eyes were the familiar yellow gold of Marty’s. He had his fangs bared and his claws out. Buffy felt Andi and Cyrus crash into her and she was relieved to hear Cyrus say “holy fuck.”

TJ looked more aware than Amber as he growled. He ran past them and they turned just in time to see him crash into Amber. He put his hand around her throat and she slashed at him with claws. Buffy would have sworn her heart stopped as he roared in Amber’s face. She growled in response.

Andi was repeatedly saying “oh my god,” in Buffy’s ear. Buffy wished she felt present enough to have the same reaction. There was a few more seconds before Marty was running at Amber and TJ. He growled and lunged at Amber. TJ let go of her and she turned toward the woods, climbing the fence around the school and running. Marty followed after her but TJ didn’t. He was standing, breathing heavily.

He turned toward them as he shifted back to normal. He was bleeding heavily and Cyrus ran toward him. Buffy was holding onto Andi, making sure she was safe beside her. Cyrus looked like he wanted to help TJ but didn’t know what to do. He was standing with his arms reaching toward the taller boy and his eyes wide. He didn’t touch him though. TJ took a step toward Cyrus and collapsed into his arms. Cyrus turned his head and looked at them. “He’s heavy, Buffy can you help me.”

Buffy took a second to process the request before she let go of Andi and hesitantly approached TJ. She put an arm around him and Cyrus helped her adjust him by putting TJ’s arms around both of them. Andi was standing where Buffy left her. “What the fuck?!” she finally said.

TJ inhaled sharply and lifted his head. “Son of a bitch,” he whispered before standing up on his own, his arm still around Cyrus.

“Are you okay?” Buffy found herself asking. He had just risked his life to save all of them.

He nodded and winced, pressing his hand to his stomach. His shirt was ripped to shreds and covered in blood. “I’ll heal,” was all he said. He took his arm off of Cyrus and he started walking toward the fence.

“Wait!” Cyrus shouted. This got TJ to stop and turn towards them. “How did you know?” Cyrus asked.

TJ sighed. “I’ve been following her all day. She killed her dad as soon as the sun set.”

“What the fuck? Amber killed her dad?” Andi asked. She sounded absolutely horrified. Not to mention confused and shocked. “Hold on. You, Amber, and Marty are werewolves? Right? That’s what you are?” she finally said.

TJ exhaled sharply through his nose. “Yes and yes. Amber isn’t in control. She was bitten yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” Cyrus echoed. “This is her first full moon,” he said as realization hit him. “Who bit her?” he decided to ask.

Buffy was shocked that he wasn’t completely having a panic attack. TJ took a second, he looked like he didn’t want to answer. “My alpha,” he finally said. He sounded ashamed by the admission. “I tried to stop him but he broke my arm and told me not to interfere,” his voice was quiet.

Buffy was horrified. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she said.

He rolled his eyes. “It healed in a few minutes. I’m fine,” he showed them his arm. It was perfectly fine. He then looked down at his torso and lifted his shirt. There were scratches still there but the wounds were nowhere near what Buffy imagined they would look like. “I’m healing now. I should go and make sure Amber didn’t kill Marty too,” he gestured toward the fence. Buffy nodded and he turned, leaving them. He climbed the fence and then ran.

Buffy turned to Andi and watched as she processed everything that just happened. Andi looked at both Buffy and Cyrus. “You knew, didn’t you?” she asked.

Buffy swallowed and licked her lips. She blinked and slowly nodded. “Marty told me and TJ told Cyrus. We weren’t allowed to tell you. It’s a very dangerous secret.”

Cyrus nodded. “There are hunters and they’ve tried to kill TJ and his pack,” he informed.

“They’ve tried to kill Marty and his family,” Buffy added.

Andi took a deep breath. “Did you want to tell me?” she asked.

“Yes! All the time. It was so hard keeping this from you. I just didn’t want you to get involved. This is all really dangerous and scary and you already have enough going on,” that wasn’t entirely true. The drama in Andi’s life had slowed down significantly when Ham got back from traveling and when Bex and Bowie started dating.

Andi nodded. “Next time you find out that your boyfriend is a literal monster, please give me a heads up,” she said, a small smile on her face. It meant she wasn’t upset. She understood.

Buffy sighed and looked down at her bloody shirt. She then looked at Cyrus’. “I think I’m gonna have to skip the recital,” she said.

Andi and Cyrus both let out small chuckles. Buffy pulled her phone out of her pocket. She suddenly remembered that her mom knew about werewolves. She quickly called her mom. When her mother’s voice said ‘hello’ over the phone, Buffy let out a deep breath. “Hey, mom, uh I need you to pick me, Cyrus, and Andi up. I don’t think I can perform tonight,” she said.

“What? Why? Did something happen?” her mom asked.

Buffy looked at Cyrus and she swallowed. “Yeah, I’ll explain when you get here. Can you get my bag from the band room and go to the auditorium and tell the teacher a family emergency came up? I can’t go in there.”

“Buffy what’s going on? You’re worrying me,” was her mother’s response.

Buffy didn’t know how to reply. “I’m fine, but one of my friends got hurt. Not Cyrus or Andi, everyone’s fine now. I think- I hope. Just please come to the school. We’ll be waiting outside.”

Her mom finally agreed and Buffy hung up. She let out an exhausted breath and sunk to the ground. She crouched, putting her head in her hands. Cyrus and Andi both walked closer to her. They sat on the concrete and she sat too. “I can’t believe that happened,” Cyrus finally broke the tense silence.

“How are you going to explain this to your mom?” Andi asked.

Buffy rubbed her forehead and took a deep breath. “I’m telling her the truth. She already knows that werewolves are real. She knew before I did and she didn’t want me to figure it out. She doesn’t know that Marty and TJ are werewolves though.”

Andi exhaled sharply. “This whole situation is so fucked up,” Buffy laughed and nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wig does anyone wanna make any predictions


	12. Play The Fox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They find out what Buffy's mom knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title is from the quote "with foxes we must play the fox"

After a few minutes spent sitting behind the school and calming down, they got up and walked to the front of the school. Buffy stood, leaning against the wall. She stared at the entrance to the parking lot as Cyrus and Andi sat on the ground on either side of her. She zoned out, her mind running through all the possible ways of explaining this to her mom.

When her mother finally pulled into the parking lot, Andi and Cyrus stood. When Buffy’s mom looked at them her eyes went wide and she rushed toward them. “Oh my god is that blood?” was the first thing out of her mouth as she got close.

Buffy took a deep breath and looked at Cyrus, who was also a bloody mess. “It’s TJ’s. He’s fine, though. Full moon issues,” she said as she looked at her mother again.

Her face went from horrified to stony. She nodded quickly. “Get in the car, we’ll talk about this when on the way home,” with that she went into the building. 

“That was quicker than I expected,” Andi huffed as they walked to the car. 

Buffy let out a small laugh and nodded. She sat in the passenger seat as Andi and Cyrus sat in the back. She leaned her head against the window, closing her eyes. All she could picture was the blood on Amber’s hands and face. Buffy didn’t know what Amber did to her father while under the trance of the moon, but she imagined it looked worse than the single slash to Jonah’s uncles throat. 

She let her mind wander, filling in the blanks of what could have happened. Amber probably did something similar to what she did to TJ. Her father didn’t heal like TJ could though. She wondered how Amber got the blood on her face. She probably bit him. She might have eaten parts of him. That made her stomach turn. The imagery of Amber destroying Mr. Browns torso and ripping out his liver made Buffy open her eyes. 

She took a deep breath and looked down at her hands. They were clean, but Cyrus’ weren’t. Her only nice white blouse had blood on the side of it, while Cyrus’ expensive blue button up was completely covered. TJ had fully trusted Cyrus to catch him as he collapsed, blacking out for a few seconds. Buffy has known Cyrus since second grade and she knew that if anyone had to carry someone it would be her, Cyrus would be last on the list out of the good hair crew. Yet he caught TJ. He asked for help, but he still managed it.

Buffy felt her phone start vibrating so she pulled it out of her pocket. Marty was calling her. She accepted the call and put him on speaker. “Are you okay?” was the first thing out of her mouth.

“Yeah. Are you? Are Cyrus and Andi okay?” Marty sounded tired, winded. It was the first time she had ever heard him like that.

She looked back at Cyrus and Andi, they both had their brows raised. “Yeah. You’re on speaker can you tell us what happened?”

Her mom was walking out of the school, she was carrying Buffy’s bag. Marty took a second to breathe. “I chased Amber down, TJs alpha showed up. He got her to submit and reconnect with her human side. She freaked out and refused to join the pack,” as he said this Buffy’s mom put the bag in the trunk. “We’re at my house now. We’re all getting cleaned up and then my mom is gonna talk to her.”

Buffy didn’t know what was going to happen next. “Is she gonna join your pack?” she asked as her mom opened the door.

Marty made a sound. Buffy realized that he wasn’t tired, he was in pain. “I don’t know. Right now all she’s saying is that she’s sorry. She’s seriously freaked out. I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”

Her mom was looking at her now. She seemed to have realized what is going on. Buffy rubbed her forehead. “I’m going home with Cyrus and Andi. Call me when Amber is calmed down a bit.”

“Okay, stay safe,” was Marty’s response before the line went dead.

Buffy put her phone back in her pocket and looked at her mother. “That was Marty? Buffy, who all do you know that are like him?” she asked.

“Marty, TJ, and now Amber,” was Cyrus’ reply. “Amber and TJ were bitten, Marty was born.”

Buffy’s mother nodded. Buffy looked at Andi and Cyrus. Andi had her head on Cyrus’ shoulder as she took deep and steady breaths. Buffy looked at her mother again as the car’s engine came alive. “Mom, how do you know about all this?” her voice was quiet.

Her mother took a deep breath as she pulled out of the parking space. “I was going for a run in the woods one day. It was before your father and I got married. I stumbled upon this cut down tree and I don’t know why but I just felt the urge to touch it. I reached out, but before I could someone shouted at me. I turned and there was Celia-”

“Cece?” Andi interrupted. She was sitting up now, alert.

“Yes,” for the first time, Buffy was compelled to refer to her mother as Pat. At this moment she didn’t have the same motherly energy as she usually did. This was a woman who has seen many horrible things. “Celia told me not to touch the tree, so I didn’t. I could have sworn her eyes her orange for a second. Later I learned they were. She’s something called a huli jing, but when she was protecting me in the woods we ran into a werewolf. She fought him off and took me home.”

Andi looked completely shocked. “She’s a huli jing? Oh my god.”

Pat nodded. “Yes. I don’t know much about them but after she took me home she told me it means fox spirit.”

“What the actual fuck. This has to be a dream. How can Cece be a huli jing? They aren’t real,” Andi was speaking fast, her eyes were wide and she was looking at her hands.

Cyrus grabbed her hand. “Werewolves aren’t real either,” Andi looked at him and Buffy noticed he had a reassuring smile on his face. “Andi, I’m pretty sure everything is gonna get a lot weirder now that we all know.”

Andi looked like a lightbulb went off in her head. “Does Jonah know?”

“No! And he can’t know,” Buffy quickly said, panic rising in her. “His family are hunters. They could kill Marty and TJ and Amber.

“You’re friends with a hunter?” Pat asked.

Cyrus sighed. “He’s not a hunter. His family is.”

Pat nodded. “Okay.”

Buffy realized that Cyrus was right. Their lives are going to get a lot weirder. She just didn’t realize how much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo! you may be familiar with the lore of kitsunes. kitsunes are a part of Japanese folklore and are foxes who follow a specific god (i forget which one exactly). huli jing are in Chinese folklore. they are fox spirits who DO NOT follow a god and have no sense of right or wrong. huli jing and kitsunes are similar because over time with the mixing of the cultures their lores have borrowed from each other. I cant wait to explore the plans i have for the huli jing lore.


	13. Truancy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy and Cyrus check up on Amber

“Jonah isn’t answering any of my texts. He hasn’t since last night,” Cyrus said as Buffy opened her locker. 

Ah, last night, Buffy’s mom took them to Celia’s house after Buffy changed her shirt. Cyrus cleaned the blood off his hands and changed into one of Buffy’s oversized t shirts. At the Mack house, Celia told them more about her kind. She explained that Andi and Bex are also like her, but that Andi hasn’t developed any of her tails yet. When she was met with confusion she explained that they are fox spirits, the tails aren’t visible in their human form. Celia has all nine, due to hundreds of years of training and learning. Bex developed her first one shortly before she became pregnant with Andi. She developed her second when Celia bought The Fringe and converted it to Cloud Ten.

Celia explained that as a fox, she had the ability to trick humans. She only uses her abilities for good. Bex liked to use glamors for more neutral things, but actually taking care of Andi lead her to enjoy doing good more than just doing what she wanted. Celia had agreed to use a glamor to help Cyrus go home without having to explain anything about the events of that night to his parents. Thankfully, it worked.

Buffy put her books in her locker, only leaving out what she needed. “I’m sure he was just busy,” she said.

Cyrus didn’t look convinced. But, he changed the subject ever so slightly. “Any updates on Amber?”

Buffy glanced around, making sure no one was paying attention. Andi was switching out her books as well. She’d been rather quiet since she found out that her family kept another massive secret from her her entire life. She had been lied to for her entire life about two things. Buffy bit her lip and turned back to Cyrus. “She’s not joining either pack. She said she just wants to live a normal life,” she whispered.

Cyrus’ eyes widened. “That would make her an omega,” he whispered back.

Buffy nodded. Andi took a deep breath. “I’m going to head to class,” she said.

“Bye,” Buffy and Cyrus said in unison. Andi gave a small smile and then walked to class.

Buffy looked around and then scratched her neck. “Do you wanna ditch? I want to talk to Amber, and I know you do too.”

Cyrus looked hesitant. “We’ll get in trouble,” he said quietly. “But it is for the greater good. We’ll be talking to a girl who just lost her father in the worst possible way.”

Finally he nodded and then Buffy put her supplies back in her locker. She closed it and then grabbed his hand. “You know where she lives, right? Marty said she wouldn’t be at school today.”

“Yeah I can lead the way, I guess,” he said. 

They left. It was surprisingly easy. Neither of them had a car, and Cyrus couldn’t get ahold of Jonah to ask him to drive them even if he did know, so they had to walk. Buffy had no idea where Amber lived, but she was kind of shocked to find out it was the area of town she knew some people labelled as “the shadiest part of Shadyside”. She knew that Amber wasn’t in the best financial situation, even after her dad got a new job, but she didn’t expect Amber to live in this area. 

There wasn’t a car in the driveway when they walked to the front door. Buffy knew that Amber doesn’t have one so she’s probably home alone. Her mother is probably at the police station since her father’s body was found that morning. Buffy saw it on the news when she was getting ready. The anchor had explained that he was mauled and left in the woods. Animal attack. 

Cyrus knocked on the door, looking a bit nervous. He looked at Buffy for emotional support as they waited. She grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze. She let go as the door opened. “What?” Amber said, looking like the last thing she wanted to do was talk to them.

“We just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” Cyrus began. “You kind of tried to attack us last night.”

Amber took a deep breath and let them inside. The house looked really lived in. There were family portraits and photos of Amber when she was younger. “I’m sorry about last night. It was my first full moon, I haven’t learned control yet.”

They sat on the couch and Amber sat in the recliner, bringing her feet close to herself. “We know that,” Buffy supplied. She didn’t want to bring up the elephant in the room. Amber already has to deal with the heavy amount of guilt that stems from killing her father. Buffy didn’t have to make her think about it more. “How do you plan on learning control? You’re an omega.”

“TJ and Marty are going to help me. TJ feels responsible since his alpha is the one that bit me, and Marty was born this way,” Amber informed. “They told me that hunters are probably going to be looking for me,” her voice was quiet now, she was looking at her shaking hands. “I don’t want to die but I probably deserve it. My dad wouldn’t be dead if it weren’t for me.”

“Amber it’s not your fault. It’s the alpha’s fault. He shouldn’t have bitten you,” Cyrus quickly said. “You don’t deserve to die. If it comes down to it, I will risk my life to help keep the hunters away from you.”

Amber let out a dark laugh. “Cyrus, you’re barely able to protect yourself from a stop sign. How are you planning on protecting me?”

“The point is that we won’t let the hunters get to you,” Buffy decided to say. Amber finally looked at her. “You might be almost 18 but you’re still a kid.”

Amber’s eyes flashed blue at that. “You’re both younger than me. I don’t need either of you protecting me.”

Amber was angry. Buffy raised her hands in a sign of peace. “Amber, we just want to let you know that we’re here for you.”

Amber took a deep breath, closing her eyes. When they opened again her eyes were their normal non-glowy blue. Cyrus had his head tilted. He furrowed his brows. “Why are your eyes blue when Marty’s and TJ’s are yellow? Is it, like, a genetic thing?” he asked.

“Mrs. Slade said that it shows I killed an innocent person,” Amber said quietly.

Cyrus’ eyes went wide. “Oh god, I’m so sorry,” he said.

Buffy was suddenly very uncomfortable. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know Amber well, but she knew that no one deserved this. This conversation was awkward and awful. They weren’t cheering Amber up. Buffy looked at the TV and bit her lip. She looked at Amber again, furrowing her brow. “Do you wanna watch a movie?” 

That got Amber to give a small smile. She nodded and stood up. “That’d be great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me? giving marty a last name? its more likely than you think. wow marty slade. also what do you think is up with jonah?


	14. Just Like Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After school, Buffy talks to her mother, and then shes talks Andi and Cyrus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title is the title of Just Like Fire by P!nk

“You ditched school to hang out with a senior?” Buffy’s mom asked. She was upset. Buffy explained where she had been all day, and the situation wasn’t getting any better.

Buffy took a deep breath. “We were making sure Amber was okay,” her voice was even. She had to be respectful if she didn’t want to get in more trouble.

This got her mom’s eyebrows to shoot up. “You were hanging out with Amber? The werewolf who just last night murdered her father and tried to kill you? That Amber? That Amber the senior?”

“She wasn’t in control! She’s going through a lot right now, and we were trying to help her,” Buffy was having a lot of issues keeping herself from getting angry at her mother. “I thought you would understand.”

“Buffy, your education is important. I can’t have you failing because of the world that your friends are involved in. I can’t have you skipping school and then ending up dead, either,” her mother didn’t sound as upset now. She was trying to be rational.

Buffy wanted to scream. She was just so frustrated. “I’m glad you’re back, I really am, but it’s not just my friends involved in these situations. It’s me. Andi is having her entire life flipped upside down for the second time, and Amber just lost her father. I watched someone get murdered and then I nearly died while waiting for my recital.”

“Then I want you to learn to protect yourself,” her mother looked like she meant it. “You need to be safe. You can’t just go running around in the world like this surrounded by supernatural creatures and then expect to get by without knowing how to protect yourself.”

Buffy gave a stiff nod. “Then I’ll take self defense classes.”

“No, I’ll teach you. Have you kept up the exercise routine?” her mother crossed her arms over her chest.

Buffy licked her lips. “I’ve gotten kinda distracted recently with all the stuff happening. I can start it again.”

Her mother nodded. “Okay, since you no longer have band practice you’re going to come directly home after school every day and I’ll teach you self defense.”

Buffy agreed to do as her mother suggested, and then went into her room. She started a Skype call with Cyrus and Andi. When Andi answered she looked tired and nervous. Cyrus was biting his nails and reading something on his laptop screen. “Andi show her what you showed me,” he said.

Andi bit her lip and then lifted a polaroid picture. “Walker took this when I went to the art room with him during lunch. Thanks for ditching me by the way,” Buffy was staring at the picture as Andi spoke.

“Jonah wasn’t at school either, according to Andi,” Cyrus added. Buffy wasn’t paying attention to him. 

“What is that?” Buffy asked. There was an orange aura around Andi, the picture was small so she could barely make out what it looked like. The orange was close to red. It was beautiful yet horrifying.

Andi took a deep breath and put the picture down. “Mom said it’s the fox spirit manifesting in flash photography. She said it makes me look badass. I think it looks scary,” she rolled her eyes as she said the last sentence.

Cyrus blinked. “Wait how come there wasn’t an orange fox demon in any other flash photos of you?” he asked.

“Apparently it only starts appearing when I get my first tail. So I have a tail now,” Andi said. “Not like on my person, only the fox,” she quickly added. “I don’t like… have a tail that I’m not showing you.”

Buffy had no idea how to take in all the information at once. “What are you going to do for anything else that uses flash?” she decided to ask.

Andi shrugged. “Mom said that Cece would teach me how to control it.”

“So you can control the fox?” Cyrus asked. “Wait does that mean you’re gonna be all magical from now on?”

Andi sighed. “I guess. I don’t really know a lot about what I am and it’s all so overwhelming. Can we talk about something else? Cyrus, is Jonah sick?”

Cyrus took a deep breath and grabbed his phone. He turned it on and looked at it. “I hope he is considering he hasn’t talked to me since he told me he wasn’t coming to Buffy’s recital yesterday.”

Buffy furrowed her brows. “And he wasn’t at school today?”

Andi nodded. “Yeah I waited for any of you guys to show up at lunch and everyone said none of you were there, so I hung out with Walker while he did extra credit for art.”

Buffy bit her lip. “Cyrus, I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Oh no,” he said. “What do you think is happening?”

“I think he might have found out,” she said.

Cyrus’ eyes went wide. “Oh god. That’s terrible.”

“Why is it terrible?” Andi asked.

“Jonah didn’t find out from us,” Buffy replied.

Cyrus was quick to add, “which means-”

Andi’s eyes went wide. “He found out from his family. The hunters. Oh god.”

Buffy rubbed her forehead. “We don’t even know for sure if he knows. We just have to be careful and try to get ahold of him. Cyrus can you go to his house and check on him?”

Cyrus shook his head. “My dad is kind of pissed we ditched today,” he said.

“So is my mom. She wants to start teaching me self defense,” Buffy replied.

Andi scratched the back of her neck. “I could go check on him,” she said. “I’m not in trouble and I know where he lives.”

“Please keep us updated,” Buffy said. “And be careful,” she decided to add.

Andi nodded and moved to end the call. “Wait!” Cyrus rose his voice and Andi stopped. “Ask him to text me back, I’m really worried.”

“Okay,” Andi said. She left the call, leaving Buffy and Cyrus alone.


	15. Who Are You Really

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy and Andi go dress shopping for the spring formal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is from the song Who Are You Really by Mikky Ekko

Andi explained that when she arrived at Jonah’s house, Mrs. Beck told her that Jonah wasn’t feeling well and that he had been sleeping on and off since he got home from school the day before. With all the things going on lately, Buffy wasn’t sure if she believed. Nevertheless, Jonah finally replied to Cyrus’ messages the next morning. He said the same thing as his mom, so maybe it was true.

Buffy wasn’t entirely sure if it was true by the time Cyrus told her he was going suit shopping with Jonah. Since it was Saturday, Andi pulled into the Driscoll driveway in Celia’s car. Since Andi got her license when she turned 16, she started borrowing Celia’s car for trips to the mall rather than having to get chauffeured by an adult.

The drive to the mall was nice, they talked about anything aside from the recent death of Buffy’s aunt and Andi’s budding abilities. They talked about the TV shows that they wanted to watch or shows they had already seen. It felt normal for once in what felt like a long time. Buffy was glad they were still able to be normal. She worried they would be stuck worrying about whether or not they or someone close to them was going to die in some bizarre supernatural way.

Andi was tired, even though she said she had been getting a lot of sleep. Buffy wondered if maybe it was like the thing she read online about oversleeping so much it affects you the way not getting enough sleep does. She wasn’t sure if that happened to huli jing like it did humans. She had to admit she hadn’t done any research on huli jing. She probably should have, but the stories probably weren’t as reliable as Celia.

They were looking at dresses and talking about plans. Andi explained that Walker was going to be borrowing his mothers minivan and was going to be the ride for the entire group. She had already texted the information to Cyrus and he told Jonah. All that was left was for Buffy to tell Marty so he knew the plan. She decided to tell him when she saw him next, which was going to be soon. She was planning on having dinner with his family.

“This one’s really pretty,” Buffy showed Andi a black dress with red flowers on the front.

Andi made an impressed sound. “That one does look really nice.”

Buffy carefully gave it to Andi. “Go try it on,” she smiled.

“You picked this for me?” Andi asked. Buffy nodded. “Thank you,” Andi sounded surprised. “I’ll try it on after you find one.”

They continued looking for a dress for Buffy. When her eyes landed on a pale pink dress she showed it to Andi. “What do you think?” she asked.

“I think you would look amazing in it,” Andi smiled.

So, they walked to the fitting room together to try on their dresses. Buffy’s dress was shorter than she expected to be once she put it on, but it was still a comfortable fit. She was just taller than she expected to be even in a pair of converse sneakers. She took a picture using the mirror and sent it to her mom and Andi. She then changed back into her clothes, deciding that this definitely is the dress she wanted.

As she opened the door, she got a text from Andi. It was a picture of her in the dress Buffy picked. She looked beautiful. The dress went just above her knees, and Buffy knew that if she were wearing it it would be at her midthighs. It was the perfect dress for Andi, so she sent a string of heart emojis as she walked out of the fitting room.

She sat on the bench outside the fitting room, waiting for Andi. It didn’t take long for Andi to walk out, dressed in her regular clothes. She walked over to Buffy, carrying the dress. “Should we buy new shoes too or can we go have lunch?” Andi asked as Buffy stood.

“I need shoes. I don’t really have any heels,” she shrugged.

Andi sighed. “You can borrow my black flats.”

Buffy furrowed her brows. “Are you okay? Why are you in such a rush to leave?”

“I’m tired and hungry. I had a big breakfast but it was like I didn’t eat at all,” Andi frowned.

Buffy gave her a sympathetic pout and tilted her head. “Okay we can go ahead and pay and leave.”

Andi nodded and thanked her. They walked to the register together. As they walked Buffy noticed that Andi was on her way to having bags under her eyes. It looked as though she hadn’t slept in several days. Which was odd because she was perfectly fine the day before. Well, Buffy thought she was fine but she couldn’t be entirely sure.

A man bumped into Andi as they walked. As his arm brushed against hers, Buffy saw her eyes glow orange. She remembered what her mother said about Celia, and her eyes widened. Andi’s eyes went back to normal, only glowing at the contact. She inhaled sharply, and Buffy realized that there were glowing orange vein-like tendrils that faded after the contact ceased. The bags under her eyes were gone.

The man fell to the ground, dropping the box of shoes in his hand. Buffy and Andi were frozen, after a second Buffy crouched. “Oh my god. Sir, are you okay?” she asked. He didn’t give her a response so she looked at Andi. The other girl was horrified, looking more alert than she did the entire day. Buffy did what she couldn’t do the last time she was in a stressful situation like this. She brought her hand to his neck and felt for a pulse. “Call 911,” she said to Andi.

Andi nodded and quickly took out her phone. Her hands were shaking, she was trembling. She called 911 as Buffy tried doing CPR on the man. Chest compressions. She was trying to do anything to get his heart to start beating again. She knew this is what she had to do in case of a situation vaguely like this, but she was panicking. Her whole body was shaking and she didn’t realize it but she was muttering “oh god” and “oh no” as she did what she could.

Buffy was being pulled off the man, Andi was grabbing her. “Buffy you have to stop,” she said.

“He’s dead. Andi he’s dead,” was all Buffy could say.

Andi was looked at her hands, they were shaking more than Buffy’s were. She then looked at her arm. Buffy realized she must have seen and felt the orange tendrils. “What did I do?” she whispered. “I killed him. Buffy, I think I killed him,” her voice was quiet, rushed, and panicked.

“I don’t know what just happened but it wasn’t your fault,” Buffy assured her as one of the employees finally made her way toward them.

Andi looked at Buffy like she didn’t believe her. “It felt good,” she whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh wig what do you think andi did


	16. Every Flower is a Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of what Andi did sinks in. They talk to Celia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the quote "Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature" by Gerard De Nerval

When the ambulance and a sheriff’s deputy arrived, Andi and Buffy explained that he bumped into them and then collapsed. They didn’t explain everything that happened, just the basics. They would sound insane if they explained what really happened, and if they did believe them Andi would be seen as committing manslaughter. After questioning, they were finally able to buy their dresses.

They walked to the car in silence. When they both got comfortable in their seats, Andi didn’t start the engine. She looked at her hands, just examining them. Her skin wasn’t as pale as it was before the man bumped into her. She looked healthier, more alive. “I don’t know what happened,” she whispered.

Buffy wanted to reach over and grab Andi’s hand to comfort her, but a big part of her said that could be dangerous. All that happened was the man touched her and then he died. “I think you should talk to Cece,” she decided to say.

Andi finally looked at her. “I’m scared, Buffy,” her voice broke and there were tears in her eyes. “I don’t want that to happen again. What if I’m never able to touch anyone again?”

Buffy didn’t know what to say, so they just sat in silence as the tears started falling down Andi’s face. She cleared her throat and wiped her face. She took a deep breath and started the car. “Andi, I love you. I wish I could help you figure this out. Right now the best person for you to talk to is probably Cece or Bex. They’ve had a lot more experience with being what you are.”

Andi nodded as she pulled out of the parking space. “You’re right, that’s why we’re going to Cece’s house and she’s going to make us lunch while she explains what the fuck I just did and why it happened and if it’s going to happen again.”

The drive was quiet, Buffy didn’t know what to say. Andi was intensely focused on driving, she was probably worried about what to say to Celia. All Buffy could think about was the fact that Andi went from extremely exhausted to perfectly fine at the cost of a man’s life. Why didn’t she have an emotional response to this other than worrying about Andi? Her hands were shaking still but she didn’t think she cared about the man all that much. Sure, she wanted to prevent it from happening again, but something was keeping her from worrying about the man. He was dead, there was nothing that could take that back.

Andi parked in Celia’s driveway, and they got out. They left their bags in the trunk, they would get them when they left. They walked into the house, and Andi called out for Cece. She greeted them as she walked down the stairs. “Did you get your dresses?” she asked.

“Yeah, but something happened,” Andi replied. “You saw how I was when I got your car, right?” she asked.

Celia nodded. “Yes,” she sounded hesitant, anticipating what Andi would tell her. “What happened?”

Andi took a deep breath and glanced at Buffy. “I don’t know exactly but I think I killed someone,” her voice was quiet, but Celia still heard her.

Celia approached her, standing close. “Tell me what happened, Andi,” she said.

Andi looked at Celia, she looked scared. She explained what happened, going into detail about what she felt and what she saw. Buffy added the information of the glowing eyes. Andi had already talked about the orange tendrils that were on her arm. “I just… I felt refreshed and so much better. To be honest, I’m not even as hungry as I was before. I feel more like I ate a meal and I’m waiting for desert.”

Celia took a deep breath and nodded. “Andi, this might be overwhelming, but this is about what we are. When I was your age something like that happened to me. Young huli jing often experience this before they learn to control the spirit. The fox was hungry, it fed on your energy after you got your tail. You were running on fumes, so when the man touched you, you ate his essence.”

Andi’s eyes were wide. “What? I… I ate his essence?”

“If I don’t teach you how to train the fox, it will happen again,” Celia informed.

Buffy took a deep breath. “You should have taught her like… yesterday.”

“I’m aware it wasn’t smart of me to wait so long. I was planning on teaching her today when she brought the car back. I just didn’t expect this to happen so soon,” Celia stated. “I’ll make you guys some lunch, and then you will go home, and I will teach her after you leave.”

Buffy resigned herself to being okay with that. There was nothing she could do about it. While she wanted to know more about what Andi was, she knew it might not be a good idea for her to be there while Andi was learning. Anything could happen, and Celia was just looking out for everyone. Buffy respected that.

So, they had lunch and Buffy left. She got her dress from the trunk of Celia’s car and she walked home. When she got home, her mother wasn’t home. She had a job interview, and her dad was working. So, Buffy was alone. She decided to put her dress away and then get ready for dinner at Marty’s house. She had nearly forgotten about her plans until Marty had texted her during her walk home. He told her they were having a casual dinner, and that she didn’t have to worry about getting dressed up. 

She hung her dress in her closet. She grabbed a comb, and used it to put her hair in a ponytail. She used a headband to hold the flyaways down, and decided not to wear any makeup. She didn’t like wearing it anyways, so why wear it for something that didn’t require it? She changed her shirt to something a little nicer than the t shirt she was wearing, but not too nice. She wanted to make a good impression, but she didn’t want to overdo it.

She sent Marty a text asking him to pick her up. She didn’t want to walk anymore than she already did. Werewolves had sensitive senses of smell, so she didn’t want to reek of sweat from walking all the way to his house. She thought for a second and decided one spritz of perfume could go a long way just in case. So she went into the bathroom, grabbed her mother’s perfume, sprayed it into the air and walked into the mist.

Now, all Buffy had to do was wait for Marty to show up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huli jing don't take right or wrong itno account, they are tricksters. in ancient legends, huli jing that take the shape of young women feed on the essence of young men; they're a form of succubi that eat souls. NOT ALL huli jing are like this, for this story im changing the mythos slightly. in legends huli jing are born as foxes and as they age they gain the ability to shapeshift into a human. in this, they are born human and develop the fox spirit as they age, and then when they get all nine tails they can shapeshift into a fox with nine tails. They all have the ability to use majyck for their deceptions, favoring glamors which are a type of majyck that makes people see what the caster wants them to see. young huli jing aren't able to control the fox, and in order to maintain its majyck it needs a food source, so what was happening to Andi was that her body was exhausted and she felt starved bc the fox was feeding on her energy, when she touched the man the fox devoured his essence.


End file.
